Coronavirus

I woke up this morning to the news mentioning that the Coronavirus in China can be spread from human to human, that cases have now been founds in China, Japan and Korea.

So I did a search on CSL Vaccines and Coronvirus and found a articles from a few years ago. I am wondering whether one of the reasons for the continuing strong interest in CSL is due to its experience in dealing with serious virus outbreaks.

Here are links to the articles:

China confirms new coronavirus can spread between humans
By Nectar Gan, Yong Xiong and Eliza Mackintosh, CNN
Updated 1801 GMT (0201 HKT) January 20, 2020
https://edition.cnn.com/2020/01/19/asia/china-coronavirus-spike-intl-hnk/index.html

Is it really the flu? The other viruses making you ill in winter
June 7, 2013 6.43am AEST
http://theconversation.com/is-it-really-the-flu-the-other-viruses-making-you-ill-in-winter-14895

"Indeed, some of these respiratory viruses are really nasty. SARS, a coronavirus that emerged in China, was known to have affected 8,096 people and resulted in the deaths of at least 775 (including many health-care workers caring for infected patients). It was estimated to cost around A$40 billion."

"On a different scale, a related novel coronavirus is currently the focus on attention in the Middle East, where a hospital outbreak in Saudi Arabia has been known to involve 13 patients. Seven of these people have died and over 50 cases have been reported in total."

CSL’s flu vaccine leaves a hole in Australia’s pandemic plan
June 5, 2013 11.57am AEST
https://theconversation.com/csls-flu-vaccine-leaves-a-hole-in-australias-pandemic-plan-14359

"For both the seasonal and pandemic flu, the main spreaders are children. So a pandemic vaccine should be safe to give to children. Indeed, children, especially the very young, are one of the groups most at risk of severe outcomes."

"During the 2009 flu pandemic, Australia relied on local manufacturer CSL to produce a vaccine. After China, Australia was the second country in the world to have a pandemic vaccine available. It was given to both adults and children."

"But CSL’s influenza vaccines are no longer recommended for children younger than five years and doubt exists about their safe use in children up to ten years old."

"The change in recommendation by Australia’s National Health and Medical Research Council followed events in 2010, which had their genesis three years earlier."
......
"Fluvax was no longer recommended for young children after 2010, but it has been inadvertently given to children in Australia since. There was a serious adverse outcome documented in the ACT only last year.Given these ongoing problems, there may be reluctance to give any future pandemic influenza vaccine manufactured by CSL to children, unless it’s shown that benefits outweighed risks."

"And this leaves a potentially large hole in Australia’s pandemic plans.To fill this hole, CSL would need to show it understood why its seasonal vaccines cause high fevers in children, at least in some years. The US Food and Drug Administration has suggested the problem is related, at least in part, to the CSL manufacturing process, and CSL agrees."

"Even when the problem (known in the trade as the “root cause”) is identified, understood and fixed, CSL would need to conduct a very large trial of the improved vaccine to demonstrate its safety and efficacy. Only then could Australians once again feel confident about giving Fluvax to children."

....... That was in 2013 - 6+ years ago, so a big question I now have is: Has CSL done more research and improved its vaccines that are now suitable for children and adults?

If yes, then that may be an additional ( not planned for) strong driver for the current interest in CSL I can only guess that CSL vaccine scientists may have been contacted for their advice and potential assistance.

This is not meant to be investment advice.