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28/07/2008

Influenza Vaccines have a short but illustrious history

Retroscreen Virology Limited, global leaders in anti-viral research, clinical trials and experimental challenge studies, is pleased to announce its contribution to Influenza Vaccines for the Future, a comprehensive text on the advances in infectious disease.

The volume, published last month by Birkhauser as part of a series on advances in infectious diseases, provides a historical background and cutting-edge information about the recent advances in the biology of the influenza virus and the design of new vaccines. The chapter contributed by Retroscreen's John Oxford, Rob Lambkin-Williams and Anthony Gilbert, focuses on the history of influenza vaccines. They describe the transition from the initial formulation of vaccines using hen eggs, to the use of alternative cell types and adjuvants, as well as the idea of targeting proteins which are universally important to all viruses.

Dr. Robert Lambkin-Williams, Managing Director of Retroscreen Virology Limited, commented: "Our team has extensive experience in the history of the influenza virus and we are delighted to be able to share our knowledge with the wider research community. As the threat of an influenza pandemic becomes ever more real, we hope that this text will benefit all of the scientists who are working together to develop tomorrow's vaccines."

For more information or to order a copy of Influenza Vaccines for the Future, please visit the publisher's website.

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Notes to Editors
Retroscreen are global leaders in anti-viral research, clinical trials and experimental challenge studies. Based in London, the Company currently employs over 50 people, generating a turnover (2006/7) of approximately £5 million. Retroscreen conducts virucidal and virustatic testing, pre-clinical and clinical trials for global pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies that are developing antiviral drugs and vaccines. The Company is ISO9001 accredited and is partnered with a number of leading UK universities, including Queen Mary, University of London.

Clinical trials: Retroscreen conducts approximately five clinical trials each year, which involve several hundred candidates each, carefully selected from a database of over 4000 people. The Company offers a comprehensive service from protocol and case report form design through to effecting and co-ordinating the study, and it is currently expanding into data management and monitoring. The Company is especially renowned for its unique experimental challenge studies, conducted under strict quarantine conditions at its UK Flu Camps (see www.flucamp.com).

Pre-clinical: Retroscreen has invested in the development and optimisation of in vitro antiviral assay techniques for preclinical studies. The Company specialises in assays for respiratory viruses such as influenza, RSV, and rhinovirus (the common cold), as well as gastrointestinal viruses and HIV among others.

Retroscreen is also part of a consortium led by QinetiQ Nanomaterials Limited, a wholly owned QinetiQ subsidiary, which is developing a range of viral treatments from nanomaterials. The two year programme, which was completed recently, was funded by the South East England Development Agency (SEEDA) who allocated £2 million to the project.

Furthermore, Retroscreen is the lead participant in the European Surveillance Network for Vigilance against Viral Resistance (VIRGIL), which was established with a grant of £9 million from the European Union. Virgil is a network of excellence that aims to integrate and coordinate the activities of doctors and scientists from institutions across Europe who are investigating viral resistance.

For more information on Retroscreen please visit www.retroscreen.com

About Influenza:
Influenza is a viral infection of birds and mammals that affects the respiratory system. The virus typically causes symptoms such as fever, sore throat and muscle pain, but severe cases can lead to pneumonia, nerve & brain damage and even death. In the developed world, individuals at high risk of contracting influenza are usually vaccinated but as different strains of the virus mutate (a phenomenon known as ‘antigenic drift’), vaccines from one year may be ineffective the next, so there is a constant need for evolving, novel therapies to be developed. The virus spreads around the world in seasonal epidemics. In a typical year there are between three and five million cases of severe illness and up to half a million deaths globally. The cost of influenza in the US is over $10billion a year in lost productivity and associated medical treatment. Currently the H5N1 strain of avian influenza poses the greatest global threat, and a pandemic is projected to cost hundreds of billions of dollars.

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