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M. E. Garza's  Instablog

M.E. Garza is one of the founders of the biotech and healthcare sector news portal BioMedReports.COM.
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  • CDC will stick with "tried and true" methods for flu vaccine production 7 comments
    Nov 3, 2009 02:30 PM | about stocks: NVAX, INO, VICL, SVA
    Speaking at the CDC briefing on H1N1 flu and vaccine distribution on Tuesday afternoon, CDC Director Dr. Thomas R. Frieden said his group is looking to stick with proven methods for vaccine production.

    While the director admitted that there are new technologies available to speed up the process for flu vaccine production, changes in the way the U.S. Government handles that time intensive process may not see a change for "at least a couple of years."

    Still, the director insisted that his group is looking closely at some of these new technologies and that his group needs to encourage more development and testing. Some companies are also doing and developing business with their technologies outside the U.S.

    Currently, the flu virus has to be grown out in chicken eggs, a 50-year-old technology that is "tried and true" but difficult to speed up, says the CDC's director. Delays in growing the virus are the biggest factor contributing to the problem, but some delays have also occurred because countries where the vaccines are manufactured have insisted that their own needs be met before doses are shipped out of the country. With the exception of intranasal vaccine FluMist, all of the influenza vaccines are manufactured in other countries, "leaving this country at the mercy of other governments," according to the Los Angeles Times.

    This news may affect the shares of some of the publicly traded companies who are developing some of these new vaccination technologies.

    Our list includes:

    Novavax, Inc. (NASDAQ:NVAX)
    Product: Vaccines using Virus-like particle technology
     
    Inovio Biomedical Corporation (Amex:INO)
    Product: SynCon™ H1N1 influenza DNA vaccines

    Vical Incorporated (NASDAQ:VICL)
    Product: Patented DNA delivery technology

    Sinovac Biotech Ltd. (Amex: SVA)
    Product: Panflu
    Themes: Healthcare, H1N1, Flu Stocks: NVAX, INO, VICL, SVA
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This post has 7 comments:

  •  
    M. E. Garza: Thanks for writing this peice. Totally changes my investing mind about BioSante, Vical and Novavax.
    Nov 03 03:45 PM | Link | Reply
  •  
    M.E.: This isn't a flu question: any thoughts on RIGL now? Thanks.
    Nov 03 05:43 PM | Link | Reply
  •  
    Didn't you forget to add another company to your list of affected ones?

    CVM maybe?
    Nov 03 11:13 PM | Link | Reply
  •  
    CVM is not working on a vaccine for H1N1. The news investors are expecting is about their H1N1 "treatment." If you take a closer look at BioSante's pipeline, you'll see what role their vaccine development has there: www.biosantepharma.com... - almost none.

    Note also that BOTH those companies traded significantly higher after the news. Not lower.
    Nov 04 07:30 AM | Link | Reply
  •  
    OptionsGirl: RIGL had a terrible October (who didn't, huh?), but they seem to be rebounding. Especially after yesterday's trading. Their whole area of development and research represents a significant potential market, so they are worth keeping an eye on.
    Nov 04 07:34 AM | Link | Reply
  •  
    OptionsGirl: This is for you: rodman.bluematrix.com/...
    Nov 04 08:39 AM | Link | Reply
  •  
    Many thanks!!!


    On Nov 04 08:39 AM M. E. Garza wrote:

    > OptionsGirl: This is for you: rodman.bluematrix.com/...;_Renshaw_RIGL_2009-11...
    Nov 04 11:06 AM | Link | Reply
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