HYDERABAD: At a time when the world is reeling under the bird flu scare, there is an encouraging breakthrough, one that has an Indian connection as well.

Scientists at the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta, USA, have successfully developed a prototype vaccine to stall the transmission of the virulent H5NI strain of bird flu virus. The Indian connection to the breakthrough comes in the form of the team leader for the two-year-long effort, Suryaprakash Sambhara, an NRI scientist hailing from East Godavari district in Andhra Pradesh.

Camping at Puttaparthi

Even as the jubilation among scientists and the media back in the US is yet to subside, Dr. Suryaprakash has come down to Puttaparthi in Anantapur district to teach immunology to students of biosciences in the Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning (SSSIHL) for three weeks, a visit he has not missed for the last 10 years. "I save up my vacation to teach at Puttaparthi every year," he says.

Speaking to The Hindu over telephone during a brief stopover at Hyderabad en route Visakhapatnam, Dr. Suryaprakash says the vaccine, produced using a genetic engineering technique, protects mice infected with H5N1 virus isolated from people in 2003 and 2004. "The vaccine can be quickly scaled up for stockpiling the drug to prepare for a pandemic. It has to be moved forward to Phase I clinical trials now," he says.

The ability to stockpile the vaccine assumes importance since the virus, in case of mutation and spreading from human to human, could affect at least one billion people across continents. "If everything goes well, this vaccine could be ready for Phase I clinical trials by this year-end. It is also effective against newer strains of the flu and does not need an adjuvant, or additive, to bolster the immune system response," he says.

Major achievement

Current vaccines, which can take up to six months to produce, are made in fertilized chicken eggs.

But egg-based vaccines are not useful for stockpiling because a vaccine would have to be specific to the pandemic strain.

"The breakthrough is a major achievement for anyone and so to our team," says Dr.Suryaprakash, who has another NRI scientist, Suresh Mittal, as his collaborator. "Once we know the vaccine is safe for humans, it would take five to six years to get FDA clearance.

But in case of an emergency, FDA can fast track the regulatory approval process for the vaccine."

Dr.Suryaprakash, who did his masters in veterinary sciences in India and his PhD from the University of Toronto and worked for several years in Aventis Pasteur in Canada before moving to CDC in 2000, says one should not hype or underplay the bird flu, as it is a public health issue.

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