An H7N9 avian influenza vaccine developed by a research and development team co-led by Adimmune Corp and Taipei Veteran’s General Hospital entered the animal testing stage last month and is expected to enter the second phase of clinical trials in January next year.
The research has been subsidized by the Ministry of Health and Welfare with NT$34.5 million (US$1.16 million) and the team aims to obtain the vaccine’s license and have it hit the market by the end of next year.
The corporation said that although warmer summer weather has helped contain the spread of the H7N9 virus, an infection had still been reported in Hebei, China, as recently as July.
A Chinese research team published its finding in July that the H7N9 virus may be capable of human-to-human transmission via airborne droplets from the respiratory tract, if the virus mutates after entering the human body.
Another research report authored by China’s Jiangsu Province’s Center for Disease Control and Prevention and published in the British Medical Journal last month reported the first likely case of limited person-to-person transmission of the H7N9 bird flu virus.
The report shows an almost 100 percent genetic similarity between the viruses isolated from each of the two patients in the suspected family cluster case, involving a 60-year-old man infected with H7N9 at a live poultry market and his daughter, who had been providing prolonged bedside care for her father.
The two isolates are both of avian origin and capable of binding lower pulmonary epithelial cells.
In the event of an outbreak occurring in the autumn or winter, the Adimmune Corp said it would follow the ministry’s policy and mass-produce the vaccine immediately.
The Adimmune Corp added that it will also be starting the second phase of clinical trials for the enterovirus 71 vaccine, and the third and final phase is expected to be completed in 2017, after which mass production will be possible once the license is obtained.
Hong Kong-based American singer-songwriter Khalil Fong (方大同) has passed away at the age of 41, Fong’s record label confirmed yesterday. “With unwavering optimism in the face of a relentless illness for five years, Khalil Fong gently and gracefully bid farewell to this world on the morning of February 21, 2025, stepping into the next realm of existence to carry forward his purpose and dreams,” Fu Music wrote on the company’s official Facebook page. “The music and graphic novels he gifted to the world remain an eternal testament to his luminous spirit, a timeless treasure for generations to come,” it said. Although Fong’s
China’s military buildup in the southern portion of the first island chain poses a serious threat to Taiwan’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) supply, a defense analyst warned. Writing in a bulletin on the National Defense and Security Research’s Web site on Thursday, Huang Tsung-ting (黃宗鼎) said that China might choke off Taiwan’s energy supply without it. Beginning last year, China entrenched its position in the southern region of the first island chain, often with Russia’s active support, he said. In May of the same year, a Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) force consisting of a Type 054A destroyer, Type 055 destroyer,
Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) was questioned by prosecutors for allegedly orchestrating an attack on a taxi driver after he was allegedly driven on a longer than necessary route in a car he disliked. The questioning at the New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office was ongoing as of press time last night. Police have recommended charges of attempted murder. The legally embattled actor — known for his role in the coming-of-age film Our Times (我的少女時代) — is under a separate investigation for allegedly using fake medical documents to evade mandatory military service. According to local media reports, police said Wang earlier last year ordered a
POLICY UNCHANGED? Despite Trump’s remarks, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio assured that US policy toward Taiwan has remained consistent since the 1970s US President Donald Trump on Wednesday again refused to make clear his stance on protecting Taiwan from a hypothetical takeover by China during his presidency. Asked by a reporter during a Cabinet meeting whether it was his policy that China would never take Taiwan by force while he is president, Trump declined to give a definitive answer. “I never comment on that,” he said. “I don’t comment on it because I don’t want to ever put myself in that position.” Trump also reiterated that he has a “great relationship” with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) and said that Washington welcomes good relations with
RSS