Antigen Express Inc, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Generex Biotechnology Corporation, has developed new vaccine technology that 'could rapidly lead to safe, effective flu vaccines', according to a June 23, 2009 article in the Worcester, Massachusetts Telegram & Gazette.
"It's not a biological process, it's a chemical process," explained Douglas M Powell, director of immunobiology at Antigen Express. "It's not futuristic, it's here now."
The article notes that in contrast with traditional vaccines, which require literally cracking millions of hen eggs, Antigen Express uses lab equipment to string together amino acids into peptides that can stimulate the body to produce immune cells in response to specific threats, such as influenza.
"If Antigen Express could develop an H1N1 vaccine, large-scale production could take place rapidly in existing facilities," Dr Powell said. "The capacity exists now that you could literally make billions of doses of this vaccine."
Earlier this month, Generex announced positive results of a recently completed phase-I trial of its prostate cancer vaccine. The immunotherapeutic peptide AE37 is also being developed by Antigen Express for multiple cancer indications.
Generex is engaged in the research, development and commercialization of drug delivery systems and technologies.