It is looking like the Americans are panicking about flu - short circuiting of standard safety protocols and the stockpiling of the vaccine. Normally such a radically created vaccine would go through many more years of safety tests, before human consumption.
Now we have this deal giving Biota $AUD8 million. Biota's powder has passed phase one tests (NB Biota's products don't vaccinate against flu, they reduce the damaging side effects of flu - there has been some misunderstanding on this critical point). What's important for Biota is that it has a long lasting product, a once a week dose, giving enduring protection.
That sort of product can be given out to the masses as a prophylactic, even if inhabitants of a city have to queue for it. What the Yanks want is a nebulizer version of this prophylactic (I don't know if you have looked at the current Relenza style of delivery, but it is a bit awkward).
So there are three potential outcomes for Biota:
(1) all their efforts fail.
(2) a mass order from USA.
(3) a national emergency in USA, which leads to commandeering of Biota's patent rights. Here is where the FTA between Australia and USA is valuable, since USA would have to provide fair royalties to Biota for its commandeered rights.
Anyway, it all looks very interesting.
BTA Price at posting:
0.0¢ Sentiment: None Disclosure: Held
