AN OXFORD company is recruiting volunteers for a trial to test a new flu vaccine.
PowderMed, based at Oxford Science Park, says that if the trial is successful, the new injection, using the genetic material DNA, could also be used to fight bird flu.
PowderMed's chief medical officer Dr John Beadle said "This trial will be the first to assess the ability of our DNA vaccine to protect human volunteers against flu.
"What we are looking for are people willing to be vaccinated and then later challenged with an annual flu virus. Some of them may get a mild form of influenza-like illness, but our previous data suggests that those who are vaccinated may be protected. All volunteers will receive, at the end of the study, treatment with Tamiflu, a licensed antiviral drug."
This trial is one of three being conducted by PowderMed, using a needle-free system to deliver microscopic gold particles coated with DNA at supersonic speed into the immune cells of the skin. Last month, PowderMed started a bird flu trial.
Previous studies have shown that the vaccines can protect animals from annual or bird flu viruses and produce a protective level of immune response in humans.
The latest trial is at Guys Drug Research Unit (GDRU), Quintiles UK, in London. Anyone interested aged between 18 and 50 should contact Quintiles at 0800 6341130.
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