Japan

Baylor inks anti-cancer vax development pact

Calisha Myers — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 10:40:27 -0400

Japan-based SBI Biotech and Baylor Research Institute have inked a licensing deal and development agreement to develop anti-cancer vaccines for Asian markets, which could possibly include Japan, Taiwan and Korea.

The licensing agreement allows SBI to conduct clinical trials on early-stage cancer patients using Baylor's "dentritic cell immunotherapy"--a treatment designed to work in conjunction with others, such as radiation and chemotherapy. Over the past five years, the Dallas-based institute's clinical trials have only included about 100 cancer patients, all of whom have had late-stage cancer and declining immune systems.

Under the terms of the agreement, SBI will pay Baylor about $3 million in acceleration fees and another $3 million in SBI stock, with potential milestone and royalty fees that could reach a half-million.

- check out the Dallas Business Journal for more

Individual investors buy into vaccination bond issue

Thu, 27 Mar 2008 07:59:56 -0400

Japanese investors have snapped up a $223 million bond program to fund vaccination campaigns in developing countries. The idea is that the investors' money will be used to pay for the upfront costs of a campaign and they will be repaid as governments fund the programs. This is the first time that individual investors have bought into a vaccination bond program and it could prove a model for future fundraising efforts in other countries.

In this case, Japanese investors paid as little as $1,270 to buy into the issue from the International Finance Facility for Immunization. In 2006 the first IFFim bond raised $1 billion from institutions in London and underwritten by a group of countries including the UK.

- read the report from the Financial Times

Japanese R&D team targets next gen flu jabs

Thu, 13 Mar 2008 07:59:56 -0400

Investigators in Japan have designed a new vaccine that has been effective in animal tests against multiple strains of influenza, including varieties of the dread bird flu. Using a peptide derived from influenza virus that carries an antigen on the surface that triggers an immune response, the researchers noted that the vaccine worked on the inside of cells, rather than the surface. That's a dramatic departure from the vaccines used today, which target the surface of cells. Those surfaces change as the virus mutates, making the vaccines ineffective to the emerging strains of influenza.

The researchers at the National Institute of Infectious Diseases say that their breakthrough could provide a new generation of flu vaccines able to work across a broad spectrum of strains. They're now working on a vaccine that can be tested in humans.

- read the report from News-Medical

ALSO: Japanese investigators say they're seeing good results from a new bird flu vaccine that is sprayed up the nose rather than injected, a feature that could make it far easier to distribute in developing countries. Story

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