GlaxoSmithKline selects UK manufacturer for HIV vaccine

Cobra Biomanufacturing has revealed it has been selected for manufacturing and process development of two possible HIV vaccines, developed by the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative and GlaxoSmithKline. The vaccines will be produced at Cobra’s sites in Keele in Staffordshire and Oxford.

The technology behind the vaccine was researched by students at the University of Pennsylvania, which owns the patent and provides exclusive rights to Glaxo. Cobra says that the vaccines use non-human primate adenovirus vectors – more easily described as the chimpanzee equivalent of the common cold – to form the active ingredients of the virus designed to produce antibodies in the human bloodstream.

David Thatcher, Cobra’s chief executive, told the Sentinel: “The smart thing about the programme is that everybody has already got an immunity from the common cold. If you use the human common cold virus it doesn’t work, so this uses the chimpanzee common cold virus to give a better vaccination.”

No financial details of the deal have been released, although a spokesperson for the Keele-based firm commented that it would “contribute significantly to building our revenue stream over 2006 and 2007”.

Last month a poll commissioned by the UK’s National AIDS Trust discovered that people are less aware now of how HIV is transmitted than they were five years ago, despite an increase in the number of diagnoses. It found that eight per cent of the UK population had no idea at all how the virus is transmitted and that some people still think HIV can be transferred through kissing, spitting and toilet seats. The trust said it was “shocked” by the findings.

© Adfero Ltd