International Workshop on Vaccine Development

Leading scientists from around the world met in Coral Gables (FL, USA) in September 2006 to discuss innovative approaches to address the urgent need to develop medical countermeasures to protect against infectious diseases and bioterror agents.

The international scientific workshop, called "New Cells for New Vaccines: Focus on Plant and Insect Cell Technologies,” explored the advantages and challenges of using plant and insect cells for production of vaccines against threats such as influenza, anthrax, plague and severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS).

The workshop was sponsored and organized under the auspices of the International Association for Biologicals (IABs, Geneva, Switzerland). Other contributers included the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID, Bethesda, MD, USA), the Fraunhofer USA Center for Molecular Biotechnology (Newark, DE, USA), the World Health Organization (WHO, Geneva, Switzerland), and the International Society for Influenza and Other Respiratory Virus Diseases (London, UK).

Recent successes in the field were discussed, including the development of the first plant-made veterinary vaccine to receive regulatory approval, and the introduction of a human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine against cervical carcinoma produced in insect cells. The featured speaker, Dr. Vidadi Yusibov, executive director of the Fraunhofer USA Center for Molecular Biotechnology, presented the latest data on a cutting-edge platform technology for making vaccines in non-genetically modified plants, which might significantly improve protection of large populations particularly against pandemic diseases and bioterror agents. Speakers at the workshop included public health leaders representing the WHO and agencies in the U.S., Canada, and the United Kingdom. Eminent academic and industrial scientists from around the globe presented their latest research results.

"A key aspect of the success and viability of a vaccine development project is the choice of an appropriate cell substrate,” said Dr. Geoffrey Schild, Chief Scientific Officer of InB:Biotechnologies (Newark, DE, USA) and a Director of IABs. "The advantages of plants and insect cells are increasingly being recognized and many projects are in progress internationally, including the development of avian flu vaccines.”

InB:Biotechnologies, Inc., is focused on the discovery, development, and commercialization of proprietary products from plants.



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International Association for Biologicals