Hanoi (VNS/VNA) - New vaccine production technology from a Britishuniversity has been transferred to Vietnam which may help lower the cost andshorten production time.

Vaccine scientists from the University of Bristol are working with Vietnamesevaccine manufacturer the Company for Vaccine and Biological Production No 1(Vabiotech) to share cutting-edge knowledge that could help prevent futureglobal outbreaks of avian flu and rabies.

Vabiotech and the University of Bristol are partners in the Future VaccineManufacturing Research Hub (FVMR Hub), a collaborative initiative led byImperial College London and supported by the UK’s Engineering and PhysicalSciences Research Council.

“While rapidly developing countries, such as Vietnam, have an impressivecapacity to manufacture vaccines tailored to local needs, this has historicallybeen hampered by a lack of access to the cutting-edge innovations in vaccinetechnology we specialise in here in the UK,” said Professor Berger, director ofthe Max Planck Bristol Centre for Minimal Biology at the University of Bristol.

“Our aim in working with Vabiotech is to share knowledge that will aid andexpedite the development of next-generation vaccines specifically fordeployment in Vietnam,” he added.

Scientists from Vabiotech are being trained by Berger and his team on MultiBac,a powerful recombinant production technology the Berger team pioneered.

According to Berger,MultiBac is uniquely suited for producing novel vaccines in large quantities ininsect cells that can be easily cultured at a low cost. The objective is tomaster the MultiBac technique and implement the technology in large-scalebiofermenters in Vietnam, he said.

Together with Vabiotech and supported by the FVMR Hub, Berger is targeting theuse of MultiBac towards the production of vaccines for pandemic (avian)influenza, as well as rabies and other pathogens.

“Vabiotech is particularly interested in using MultiBac to produce vaccines tocombat avian flu. We saw a few years ago how quickly avian flu, which began inVietnam, developed into a global threat for humans,” Berger said.

“While the threat ofavian flu in Vietnam still looms, deployment of a suitable vaccine couldtherefore help prevent future pandemics,” he said, adding that the new technologyhad been used by many major vaccine manufacturers around the world andsuccessfully developed in more than 1,000 laboratories.

Dr Do Tuan Dat, president and director general of Vabiotech, said that MultiBacwas particularly suitable for the production of new vaccines with largevolumes.

“Vabiotech is aiming to use MultiBac to produce avian flu vaccines and rabiesvaccines, " Dat said.

He explained that with traditional vaccines, based on virus isolation,scientists had to cultivate vaccines on monkey kidneys and chicken eggs.

“Using this innovative technology, scientists only need to understand thecharacteristics of the virus strain and genome to start growing. The studyperiod can be shortened to three weeks from the normal level of three months,” Datsaid.

“When a pandemic happens, the demand for vaccines is high. This new technologywill help shorten the research time, improve quality and reduce productioncosts,” he said.

According to Dat, the project was in the technological exploration stage andwould take at least three years for the company's R&D department to developit successfully./.