Dynavax' flu vacc combats multiple strains in preclinical trial

USA-based biopharmaceutical company Dynavax Technologies says that data from a preclinical assessment of an influenza vaccine it is developing, indicates that it confers immunity to "widely divergent" strains of the virus. The firm said that analysis of the agent in animal models suggests that it has the potential to become a universal influenza vaccine.

The firm added that co-administration of its product and a standard flu vaccine enhances the immune response, and may lower the dose of the standard treatment that is required to induce protective immunity.

Dynavax explained that it is trying to develop an agent with a greater therapeutic scope than the current pandemic-driven research efforts undertaken by other firms. In 2003, the company received a $3.0 million grant from the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease, funding the research and development of its Toll Like Receptor-9 technology-based flu vaccine.