The National Health Research Institutes (NHRI) has achieved a breakthrough in its development of an enterovirus 71 (EV-71) vaccine that can efficiently generate antibodies in humans, a member of the research team said on Tuesday.
In the first phase of the clinical trials that will be completed by the end of this year, the vaccine produced more than 600 times the normal level of antibodies in adults, said Su Ih-jen (蘇益仁), head of the National Institute of Infectious Diseases and Vaccinology.
Su said the next phase would be to test the vaccine in various age groups next year to determine how many doses are needed to resist the virus.
Phase III will be carried out at several medical centers in different countries, with the aim of finding out how much protection the vaccine can provide against EV-71 infection, he said.
The EV-71 vaccine will be considered effective if it can generate 80 to 90 percent protection, he said.
Enterovirus 71 is the most virulent strain of enterovirus. It is found in Taiwan, China and several other Asian countries.
Although Taiwan began development of an EV-71 vaccine earlier than China, Chinese researchers completed the Phase I trials before Taiwan, Su said.
The Taiwanese team has applied for seven international certificates and is optimistic about being able to offer the vaccine domestically and internationally, he said.
The NHRI has signed nonexclusive patent license agreements with Adimmune Corp and Medigen Biotechnology Corp and will transfer the technology to the two firms as the first step to entering the international market.
The institute is in partnership discussions with another biotech firm, United Biomedical.
Separately, the institute said it had also made substantial progress in the development of a vaccine against Neisseria meningitidis and would start looking for international partners by the end of this year to promote joint research and development.
As of last month, the Centers for Disease Control had confirmed three cases of severe enterovirus so far this year, all of which were EV-71 infections. One of the cases was fatal.
The nation’s first outbreak of EV-71 in 1998 killed 78 children.
Kenting National Park service technician Yang Jien-fon (楊政峰) won a silver award in World Grand Prix Photography Awards Spring Season for his photograph of two male rat snakes intertwined in combat. Yang’s colleagues at Kenting National Park said he is a master of nature photography who has been held back by his job in civil service. The awards accept entries in all four seasons across six categories: architectural and urban photography, black-and-white and fine art photography, commercial and fashion photography, documentary and people photography, nature and experimental photography, and mobile photography. Awards are ranked according to scores and divided into platinum, gold and
More than half of the bamboo vipers captured in Tainan in the past few years were found in the city’s Sinhua District (新化), while other districts had smaller catches or none at all. Every year, Tainan captures about 6,000 snakes which have made their way into people’s homes. Of the six major venomous snakes in Taiwan, the cobra, the many-banded krait, the brown-spotted pit viper and the bamboo viper are the most frequently captured. The high concentration of bamboo vipers captured in Sinhua District is puzzling. Tainan Agriculture Bureau Forestry and Nature Conservation Division head Chu Chien-ming (朱健明) earlier this week said that the
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus yesterday said it opposes the introduction of migrant workers from India until a mechanism is in place to prevent workers from absconding. Minister of Labor Hung Sun-han (洪申翰) on Thursday told the Legislative Yuan that the first group of migrant workers from India could be introduced as early as this year, as part of a government program. The caucus’ opposition to the policy is based on the assessment that “the risk is too high,” KMT caucus secretary-general Lin Pei-hsiang (林沛祥) said. Taiwan has a serious and long-standing problem of migrant workers absconding from their contracts, indicating that
SPACE VETERAN: Kjell N. Lindgren, who helps lead NASA’s human spaceflight missions, has been on two expeditions on the ISS and has spent 311 days in space Taiwan-born US astronaut Kjell N. Lindgren is to visit Taiwan to promote technological partnerships through one of the programs organized by the US for its 250th national anniversary. Lindgren would be in Taiwan from Tuesday to Saturday next week as part of the US Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs’ US Speaker Program, organized to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) said in a statement yesterday. Lindgren plans to engage with key leaders across the nation “to advance cutting-edge technological partnerships and inspire the next generation of scientists and engineers,”
RSS