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(CBS 5) Treating the flu is not easy. Some patients have already developed a resistance to the anti-viral Tamiflu. And so far, there is no vaccine.
But the federal government has some big hopes for a small Bay Area Biotech firm. A Sunnyvale startup beat out big firms for a million-dollar federal grant aimed at tackling the deadly bird flu.
Researchers at Juvaris Biotherapeutics have developed a vaccine that can respond to a variety of flu strains.
“We got dramatic results. If you look at the data for flu-a it's amazing,” says CEO Martin Cleary.
That got the attention of the National Institutes of Health. The idea is that the companies existing vaccine can be adapted relatively quickly to respond to the bird flu.
“I'm optimistic that we'll be done in 18 months,” Cleary says.
If clinical trials are successful, the vaccine could be produced for government stockpiles in four years. It’s an aggressive timeline, that’s because the risk of a pandemic increases with every new human case.
Currently, the disease is passed between birds and people through direct contact. But there is a possibility that the virus could mutate.
“The real danger is the human to human. When it's passed as a flu virus -- that's a concern,” says Research Director Jeff Fairman.
Within hours of announcing the federal grant, Cleary attended a biotech industry conference in San Francisco, drumming up a lot of attention, and more money to complete the ambitious project.