PHA-Exchange> SARS VACCINE TRIAL COULD START IN A FEW MONTHS - WHO

[Claudio]

> SARS VACCINE TRIAL COULD START IN A FEW MONTHS - WHO
> New York, Nov  5 2003 11:00AM
> A vaccine for the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) will not be
available if an epidemic should recur at the end of the
> year, but the first clinical trial of a vaccine could begin as early as
January 2004, health experts convened by the United
> Nations World Health Organization (WHO) have concluded.
>
> After a two-day review of research progress, the WHO Consultation on SARS
Vaccine Research and Development said a resurgence of
> the illness could speed up research and result in a vaccine within two
years. Without a new outbreak, the vaccine would follow the
> classical development path and not be ready for four to five years.
>
> In the meantime, "we must be ready to manage a possible resurgence of SARS
through the control measures that work - surveillance,
> early diagnosis, hospital infection control, contact tracing and
international reporting. Research must continue to determine if,
> how, and how soon a vaccine will add to these existing control measures,
WHO Director-General Lee Jong-wook said.
>
> The group of 50 experts from 15 countries examined what is known of how
the SARS coronavirus causes human disease, the factors
> involved in choosing the best genetic strains for future vaccines and the
help or the hindrance raised by patent and intellectual
> property issues.
>
> The consultants also reviewed recent work on experimental vaccines in
animals and how that information could be used to initiate
> clinical trials in human volunteers. But human trials might be
inappropriate, given the severity of the disease, its relatively
> rare occurrence and the urgency of the search for inoculation, they said.
>
> "SARS might have to be licensed in the absence of efficacy data generated
in humans," they concluded.