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<TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%"><TBODY><TR>May 26, 2009
PROTECTION FOR DOCTORS AND SCIENTISTS
</TR><!-- headline one : start --><TR>S'pore firm testing anti-infection spray
</TR><!-- headline one : end --><TR>Product may protect health workers and researchers working in high-risk environments </TR><!-- Author --><TR><TD class="padlrt8 georgia11 darkgrey bold" colSpan=2>By Salma Khalik, Health Correspondent
</TD></TR><!-- show image if available --><TR vAlign=bottom><TD width=330>
</TD><TD width=10>
</TD><TD vAlign=bottom>
Mr Peter Brazier, chief executive officer of NewBiomed Pika, the local company that owns the product. -- ST FILE PHOTO
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->A SINGAPORE company is testing a nasal spray that it claims could provide short-term protection to doctors and scientists working at high risk of infection.
Called Pika, it triggers the body's defences against a wide range of infections, both viral and bacterial - something no drug on the market today can do.
<TABLE width=200 align=left valign="top"><TBODY><TR><TD class=padr8><!-- Vodcast --><!-- Background Story --><STYLE type=text/css> #related .quote {background-color:#E7F7FF; padding:8px;margin:0px 0px 5px 0px;} #related .quote .headline {font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size:10px;font-weight:bold; border-bottom:3px double #007BFF; color:#036; text-transform:uppercase; padding-bottom:5px;} #related .quote .text {font-size:11px;color:#036;padding:5px 0px;} </STYLE>Pika could also act as a booster for flu vaccines. This may be critical when the world is rushing to produce as much antigen as possible for use during a pandemic.
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>Administered as a nasal spray, the chemical triggers a strong and immediate reaction from the body's immune system. It is effective within seconds and lasts for 24 hours. Boosters can be given to prolong its effectiveness.
The product looks promising enough for Singapore's national defence laboratories to have sent a scientist to the United States for a three-year attachment just to test it out.
Dr Gary Lau, who is midway through his stint at the US National Institutes of Health, is testing Pika against unusual flu strains such as subtypes of H5, H7 and H9 - all possible pandemic candidates.
Dr Ooi Eng Eong, who is in charge of the DSO National Laboratories' biological defence programme, said such tests cannot be done here 'because the US has the virus samples, and we don't'.
He added that Pika could also act as a booster for flu vaccines.
This may be critical when the world is rushing to produce as much antigen - the active ingredient in vaccines - as possible for use during a pandemic.
With the addition of Pika, only a tenth of flu antigens is needed.
While other flu boosters are available, Pika can be used both as protection - such as with a vaccine - or as treatment.
Using it in the early days of infection could build up the body's defences much faster than normal, resulting in less illness.
Mr Peter Brazier, chief executive officer of NewBiomed Pika, the local company that owns the product, said it would take 18 months for proper trials in humans.
Aside from the flu, Pika can also be used to augment hepatitis B vaccines.
The company is in discussion with Singapore General Hospital to do the clinical trials for hepatitis B vaccines, possibly starting later this year.
Vaccination against hepatitis B is part of Singapore's childhood immunisation programme. Today, three doses of the vaccine are needed.
Mr Brazier said the third dose is often forgotten, since it is given some months later. He hopes that with Pika, only two doses will be needed.
Pika was invented in China in the late 1990s by Dr Lin Haixiang, who is a shareholder in NewBiomed Pika. He wanted it to improve treatment for people who had been bitten by rabid dogs.
It has been used in injections for this, so the product is safe in humans, Mr Brazier said.
NewBiomed Pika was set up in 2003 specifically to develop this product.
It owns Pika and filed international patents in 2005 and 2006.
That was also when the DSO got involved.
Dr Ooi said the DSO, which spends $250 million a year on research, saw it as a good defence against biological warfare.
Effective biological weapons would likely be highly resistant to many drugs.
Pika is unusual in that it acts on the human body rather than on the infectious agent, he said.
Dr Ooi cautioned that it cannot be used long term since 'we don't want an excessive immune response', as that could injure the person.
But as a general prevention, 'it can be used by clinicians in high-risk jobs for a short period of time', he said.
If it had been available during Sars in 2003, doctors and nurses who fell ill from severe acute respiratory syndrome might have been protected. [email protected]
PROTECTION FOR DOCTORS AND SCIENTISTS
</TR><!-- headline one : start --><TR>S'pore firm testing anti-infection spray
</TR><!-- headline one : end --><TR>Product may protect health workers and researchers working in high-risk environments </TR><!-- Author --><TR><TD class="padlrt8 georgia11 darkgrey bold" colSpan=2>By Salma Khalik, Health Correspondent
</TD></TR><!-- show image if available --><TR vAlign=bottom><TD width=330>
</TD><TD width=10>
Mr Peter Brazier, chief executive officer of NewBiomed Pika, the local company that owns the product. -- ST FILE PHOTO
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->A SINGAPORE company is testing a nasal spray that it claims could provide short-term protection to doctors and scientists working at high risk of infection.
Called Pika, it triggers the body's defences against a wide range of infections, both viral and bacterial - something no drug on the market today can do.
<TABLE width=200 align=left valign="top"><TBODY><TR><TD class=padr8><!-- Vodcast --><!-- Background Story --><STYLE type=text/css> #related .quote {background-color:#E7F7FF; padding:8px;margin:0px 0px 5px 0px;} #related .quote .headline {font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size:10px;font-weight:bold; border-bottom:3px double #007BFF; color:#036; text-transform:uppercase; padding-bottom:5px;} #related .quote .text {font-size:11px;color:#036;padding:5px 0px;} </STYLE>Pika could also act as a booster for flu vaccines. This may be critical when the world is rushing to produce as much antigen as possible for use during a pandemic.
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>Administered as a nasal spray, the chemical triggers a strong and immediate reaction from the body's immune system. It is effective within seconds and lasts for 24 hours. Boosters can be given to prolong its effectiveness.
The product looks promising enough for Singapore's national defence laboratories to have sent a scientist to the United States for a three-year attachment just to test it out.
Dr Gary Lau, who is midway through his stint at the US National Institutes of Health, is testing Pika against unusual flu strains such as subtypes of H5, H7 and H9 - all possible pandemic candidates.
Dr Ooi Eng Eong, who is in charge of the DSO National Laboratories' biological defence programme, said such tests cannot be done here 'because the US has the virus samples, and we don't'.
He added that Pika could also act as a booster for flu vaccines.
This may be critical when the world is rushing to produce as much antigen - the active ingredient in vaccines - as possible for use during a pandemic.
With the addition of Pika, only a tenth of flu antigens is needed.
While other flu boosters are available, Pika can be used both as protection - such as with a vaccine - or as treatment.
Using it in the early days of infection could build up the body's defences much faster than normal, resulting in less illness.
Mr Peter Brazier, chief executive officer of NewBiomed Pika, the local company that owns the product, said it would take 18 months for proper trials in humans.
Aside from the flu, Pika can also be used to augment hepatitis B vaccines.
The company is in discussion with Singapore General Hospital to do the clinical trials for hepatitis B vaccines, possibly starting later this year.
Vaccination against hepatitis B is part of Singapore's childhood immunisation programme. Today, three doses of the vaccine are needed.
Mr Brazier said the third dose is often forgotten, since it is given some months later. He hopes that with Pika, only two doses will be needed.
Pika was invented in China in the late 1990s by Dr Lin Haixiang, who is a shareholder in NewBiomed Pika. He wanted it to improve treatment for people who had been bitten by rabid dogs.
It has been used in injections for this, so the product is safe in humans, Mr Brazier said.
NewBiomed Pika was set up in 2003 specifically to develop this product.
It owns Pika and filed international patents in 2005 and 2006.
That was also when the DSO got involved.
Dr Ooi said the DSO, which spends $250 million a year on research, saw it as a good defence against biological warfare.
Effective biological weapons would likely be highly resistant to many drugs.
Pika is unusual in that it acts on the human body rather than on the infectious agent, he said.
Dr Ooi cautioned that it cannot be used long term since 'we don't want an excessive immune response', as that could injure the person.
But as a general prevention, 'it can be used by clinicians in high-risk jobs for a short period of time', he said.
If it had been available during Sars in 2003, doctors and nurses who fell ill from severe acute respiratory syndrome might have been protected. [email protected]
