'Aiea firm's West Nile vaccine proves effective

Advertiser Staff and News Services

Mosquitoes can spread West Nile virus and its potentially fatal sickness. Hawai'i has had no documented cases of West Nile virus. Advertiser library photo

David Watumull, Hawaii Biotech president and chief executive officer, said the latest results are from a study of 60 golden hamsters.

The researchers found that the synthetic vaccine protected 100 percent of test animals from West Nile sickness and death.

In its control test, 53 percent of the hamsters not given the vaccine died and survivors showed signs of illness, according to Hawaii Biotech, a company with 60 employees and a 25,000-square-foot laboratory in 'Aiea.

In preliminary trials last year, the vaccine protected all 60 test animals injected with the virus while 77 percent of the 30 control animals injected with the virus, but not the vaccine, died.

The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported 9,862 cases of the virus last year, including 264 deaths.

Hawaii Biotech is a privately held biopharmaceutical company, specializing in drug research and development.

According to the National Institutes of Health, researchers in several states have seen promising results for vaccines in the works.

This latest study was conducted by Dr. Robert B. Tesh, a professor at the Center for Tropical Diseases of the University of Texas Medical Branch and a leading researcher in this field. Tesh said the recent results validate last year's tests. He said he believes that developing a non-infectious vaccine shows better potential among those often at risk for West Nile, the elderly and people with compromised immune systems.

A spokeswoman for Hawaii Biotech said testing in humans is still at least a year away.

Hawai'i is one of five states that have no documented cases of West Nile virus.