Hendra virus: more funds for monoclonal antibody production
Queensland Health today announced $180,000 funding to continue the local production of anantibody for Hendra virus in humans.Queenslandâ??s Chief Health Officer Dr Jeannette Young said last year the Queensland Governmentinvested $300,000 to the Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (AIBN) at TheUniversity of Queensland to locally produce a monoclonal antibody for use as an experimentalHendra virus treatment.â??Todayâ??s funding announcement will help ensure the continued development of this vital drug,â? shesaid.Dr Young said the drug therapy will help improve the survival rate of people exposed to Hendravirus.â??The devastating effects of Hendra virus are clearly evident,â? she said.â??The disease was first detected in Mackay and the Brisbane suburb of Hendra in 1994 and therehave been a number of outbreaks in recent years. Itâ??s important that we are able to produce thislocally.â?AIBN Director Professor Peter Gray thanked Queensland Health for its continued support for thedevelopment of an emergency Hendravirus treatment.â??We have been able to use our people and equipment to work with Queensland Health to develop aprocess to produce the monoclonal antibody,â?? Professor Gray said.â??Stocks of the antibody are now available to use to reduce the progression of the disease in peoplewho have been exposed to the virus.â?Dr Young said the funding backed up Queensland Healthâ??s agreement with a United States agency,enabling The University of Queensland to continue to produce this therapy.â??It is very important for people to understand that this is not a vaccine as such â?¦ itâ??s aboutmaximising a personâ??s chances of survival once they have come into contact with this disease,â? shesaid.Since 1994 there have been 14 outbreaks of Hendra virus in Queensland, with seven peoplecontracting the virus. In 4 cases it has proven fatal.Hendra virus is not used at any stage of the monoclonal antibody production.
