Archimedes to lead intranasal avian flu vaccine programmes

Archimedes Development, a subsidiary of UK-based Archimedes Pharma, has announced it has received funding of 2.77 million euros from the European Union (EU) for the development of an avian influenza vaccine.

The company will spend this money over three years in a collaborative project to develop an intranasal vaccine to reduce the threat of a pandemic of this disease.

Funding for the Nasal Pandemic Influenza Vaccine project is being provided by the EU under the FP7 scheme.

Using the ChiSys proprietary nasal delivery platform from Archimedes, the project will seek to develop an intranasally delivered vaccine against the HF591 and other H5 and N7 subtypes of the virus that is effective, user-friendly and stable.

Richard de Souza, chief executive officer of Archimedes Pharma, said: “Vaccines delivered via the nasal route have the advantage of allowing the generation of both local mucosal and broad systemic immune responses as compared to injectable vaccines which are more difficult to administer and do not generate the mucosal responses.”

He added that nasal vaccine is convenient and needle free, facilitating enhanced public compliance, with the method also well suited to rapid mass global vaccination programmes.

NasalFent (intranasal fentanyl) from Archimedes has successfully completed phase II clinical trials as a treatment offering rapid relief for breakthrough cancer pain.