Baxter

[CTBengalsFan]

Ok, let's rewind to February:

Baxter (an American big pharma company that does vaccines) sends out flu viruses to be put in flu vaccines to 18 countries in Europe where its subsidiaries mix them for production. They're supposed to only send H3N2 human flu for these vaccines, for obvious reasons. Now, the lab people in the Czech Republic, one of the places that received it, test the virus on ferrets, because ferrets shouldn't be affected by human flu. So if the ferrets get sick, they know there's something wrong with the batch. Well, every ferret they injected it with died, which is unthinkable. Turns out Baxter had sent them H5N1 bird flu virus as one of the strains to be mixed in. H5N1 flu virus doesn't affect humans normally, however when you mix it with the H3N2 virus that does affect humans, they can form a hybrid bird flu/human virus that is far more deadly to humans.

[url="http://www.torontosun.com/news/canada/2009/02/27/8560781.html"]http://www.torontosun.com/news/canada/2009...27/8560781.html[/url]

[quote]The company that released contaminated flu virus material from a plant in Austria confirmed Friday that the experimental product contained live H5N1 avian flu viruses.

And an official of the World Health Organization’s European operation said the body is closely monitoring the investigation into the events that took place at Baxter International’s research facility in Orth-Donau, Austria.

“At this juncture we are confident in saying that public health and occupational risk is minimal at present,” medical officer Roberta Andraghetti said from Copenhagen, Denmark.

“But what remains unanswered are the circumstances surrounding the incident in the Baxter facility in Orth-Donau.”

The contaminated product, a mix of H3N2 seasonal flu viruses and unlabelled H5N1 viruses, was supplied to an Austrian research company. The Austrian firm, Avir Green Hills Biotechnology, then sent portions of it to sub-contractors in the Czech Republic, Slovenia and Germany.

The contamination incident, which is being investigated by the four European countries, came to light when the subcontractor in the Czech Republic inoculated ferrets with the product and they died. Ferrets shouldn’t die from exposure to human H3N2 flu viruses.

Public health authorities concerned about what has been described as a “serious error” on Baxter’s part have assumed the death of the ferrets meant the H5N1 virus in the product was live. But the company, Baxter International Inc., has been parsimonious about the amount of information it has released about the event.

On Friday, the company’s director of global bioscience communications confirmed what scientists have suspected.

“It was live,” Christopher Bona said in an email.

The contaminated product, which Baxter calls “experimental virus material,” was made at the Orth-Donau research facility. Baxter makes its flu vaccine — including a human H5N1 vaccine for which a licence is expected shortly — at a facility in the Czech Republic.

[color="#FF0000"]People familiar with biosecurity rules are dismayed by evidence that human H3N2 and avian H5N1 viruses somehow co-mingled in the Orth-Donau facility. That is a dangerous practice that should not be allowed to happen, a number of experts insisted.[/color]

Accidental release of a mixture of live H5N1 and H3N2 viruses could have resulted in dire consequences.

While H5N1 doesn’t easily infect people, H3N2 viruses do. If someone exposed to a mixture of the two had been simultaneously infected with both strains, he or she could have served as an incubator for a hybrid virus able to transmit easily to and among people.

[color="#FF0000"][size=4]That mixing process, called reassortment, is one of two ways pandemic viruses are created.[/size][/color]

[u][b]There is no suggestion that happened because of this accident, however.

“We have no evidence of any reassortment, that any reassortment may have occurred,” said Andraghetti.

“And we have no evidence of any increased transmissibility of the viruses that were involved in the experiment with the ferrets in the Czech Republic.”

Baxter hasn’t shed much light — at least not publicly — on how the accident happened. Earlier this week Bona called the mistake the result of a combination of “just the process itself, (and) technical and human error in this procedure.”[/b][/u]

He said he couldn’t reveal more information because it would give away proprietary information about Baxter’s production process.

Andraghetti said Friday the four investigating governments are co-operating closely with the WHO and the European Centre for Disease Control in Stockholm, Sweden.

“We are in very close contact with Austrian authorities to understand what the circumstances of the incident in their laboratory were,” she said.

“And the reason for us wishing to know what has happened is to prevent similar events in the future and to share lessons that can be learned from this event with others to prevent similar events. ... This is very important.”[/quote]


Now with this swine flu hoopla, guess who's working with the World Health Organization on the vaccine? Yeah.... Baxter....

[url="http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi-baxter-swine-flu-27-apr27,0,3579388.story"]http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi...0,3579388.story[/url]

[quote]With world health officials worried about the global outbreak of another deadly virus, Deerfield-based Baxter International Inc. once again finds itself involved in the action.

Baxter confirmed over the weekend that it is working with the World Health Organization on a potential vaccine to curb the deadly swine flu virus that is blamed for scores of deaths in Mexico and has emerged as a threat in the U.S.

Shares of Baxter were up 2.4 percent, or $1.16, to $49.23 a share in trading Monday on the New York Stock Exchange.

Baxter, which has an emerging vaccine business, has worked with the U.S. and foreign countries in the past to develop vaccines for the H5N1 virus commonly known as bird flu.

Baxter has a cell-based technology that allows the company to produce vaccines more rapidly in the event of a pandemic than a decades-old method that uses eggs and can take weeks or months longer. Although the egg-based method has produced safe and effective vaccines, analysts say Baxter's method can cut production times in half compared with the older process.

"Upon learning about the swine flu outbreak in Mexico, Baxter requested a virus sample from WHO to do laboratory testing for potentially developing an experimental vaccine," company spokesman Christopher Bona told the Tribune.

In the past, Baxter has developed vaccines and worked with countries to stockpile vaccines even while they undergo experimental testing.

The idea behind the government stockpiles, in the case of the bird flu, for example, is to prepare against outbreak.

As of Sunday, Baxter would not say whether the U.S. or other countries have contacted the company to develop a stockpile against swine flu. Other companies, too, develop vaccines and have been used to stockpile vaccines.

The effort to ensure a safe vaccine supply and an adequate number of manufacturers has taken on greater importance in recent years.

Three years ago, for example, the Bush administration awarded about $1 billion to vaccine makers as a way to increase and speed production, particularly after the spread of bird flu.

Several vaccine makers, including Baxter, GlaxoSmithKline and others, were awarded multimillion-dollar contracts.

Baxter, working with another company, was awarded a five-year contract to develop both seasonal and pandemic vaccines using its cell-based technology, according to terms of the deal disclosed in May 2006.

Over the years, Baxter has worked with governments around the world to develop and produce vaccines to protect against infectious disease or potential threats from bioterrorism.

In the wake of the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, Baxter worked with British biotech company Acambis to supply stockpiles of a smallpox vaccine. In 2003, Baxter was awarded a U.S. contract to develop and produce a vaccine against severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) for use by the National Institutes of Health in early human clinical trials.

And in 2005, Baxter worked with another company to develop a "plasma-based therapeutic targeted for use in individuals who may be exposed to nerve gas poisons," the company said at the time.

Because it's so early in the swine flu vaccine development process, Baxter would not estimate when a vaccine might be ready.[/quote]



BTW, their "cell based method" means they grow the viruses in either animal or fetal tissue. So it's not a stretch to say if you get a flu vaccine made by Baxter, you could be getting dead baby injected in you.


I know regardless of how serious this "swine flu" is (and I think it's totally hype), I will never, ever be taking a vaccine from Baxter. Or any vaccines at all for that matter.

[Squirrlnutz]

My Lady works for a biotech company (not Baxter) that is developing flu vaccines via bacterial growth which falls into the "new cell based" methods. As far as I've heard the "swine flu" isn't really any more potent or worse for you than the plain old flu but rather just different, spreading fast, and an easy topic for the media to fearmonger.

Biotechs and pharma's all over the country are now racing to get proof of concept for this vaccine because the first few are gonna get boat loads of money from the government, even though the chances of this particular flu becoming a pandemic are the same as any of the other flu strains out there.

The sad thing is, there are variations among the strains of swine flu (call em A, B, C, and D) and A seems to be mostly in Mexico while we see B, C, and D in America...all the biotechs are working on vaccines for B, C and D...no one cares about the particular strain thats festering in Mexico.

[|Elflocko|]

Thumbs through copy of King's "The Stand"...

[#22]

[quote]BTW, their "cell based method" means they grow the viruses in either animal or fetal tissue. So it's not a stretch to say if you get a flu vaccine made by Baxter, you could be getting dead baby injected in you.[/quote]
Actually, that's a huge stretch.

[quote]I know regardless of how serious this "swine flu" is (and I think it's totally hype), I will never, ever be taking a vaccine from Baxter. Or any vaccines at all for that matter.[/quote]
What if you have kids? I hear that the Church of Christ, Scientist, is always looking for new members

[|Elflocko|]

[quote name='#22' post='771847' date='Apr 29 2009, 10:02 PM']Actually, that's a huge stretch.


What if you have kids? I hear that the Church of Christ, Scientist, is always looking for new members [/quote]


I've known [b]many[/b] doctors that refuse to get flu shots. I had one say "I'll take one when someone can tell me what the hell is actually in them".

And she was an Infectious Disease specialist...

[#22]

Flu is one thing. Measles/Mumps/Rubella or Polio is another.

[CTBengalsFan]

[quote name='#22' post='771851' date='Apr 29 2009, 10:11 PM']Flu is one thing. Measles/Mumps/Rubella or Polio is another.[/quote]

I have my own child vaccines, obviously. I will never accept another one. Look at this HPV bullshit they're trying to force on girls. My girlfriend has an autoimmune system disorders and every time she goes to her doctor they try to get her to take one. When there's the potential she could end up like this, I dunno, I see something wrong there:

[url="http://www.rockymountainnews.com/videos/detail/ashley-story/"]http://www.rockymountainnews.com/videos/detail/ashley-story/[/url]

Oh well, Merck made $1.5 billion off it, so who cares right?

If the CDC raises the Pandemic Level to 5, they start talking about forced inoculations from what I understand. So if the government is telling you to get this flu shot (manufactured by Baxter), would you? I sure as hell would not.

[|Elflocko|]

[quote name='CTBengalsFan' post='771861' date='Apr 29 2009, 10:44 PM']I have my own child vaccines, obviously. I will never accept another one. Look at this HPV bullshit they're trying to force on girls. My girlfriend has a autoimmune system disorders and every time she goes to her doctor they try to get her to take one. When there's the potential she could end up like this, I dunno, I see something wrong there:

[url="http://www.rockymountainnews.com/videos/detail/ashley-story/"]http://www.rockymountainnews.com/videos/detail/ashley-story/[/url]

Oh well, Merck made $1.5 billion off it, so who cares right?

[b]If the CDC raises the Pandemic Level to 5, they start talking about forced inoculations from what I understand. [/b] So if the government is telling you to get this flu shot (manufactured by Baxter), would you? I sure as hell would not.[/quote]

Even if that were true (not saying either way as I don't know) there is not nearly enough doses to just do old farts and kids, let alone the general population. And it takes nearly a year to whip up a batch, so....

[CTBengalsFan]

Calderon says they already have them :hmm:

[#22]

Right, Vaccines aren't a good idea in cases where the patient has immune deficiencies, but the one in a million chance of getting sick from a vaccine beats the 1 in 10 chance of getting ovarian cancer if you're a woman.

Opposition towards the HPV vaccine has generally been from Conservative Christians, btw, who seemed to think that the vaccine would encourage sexual proclivity. and not to sound like a weirdo or anything, but if you're girlfriend is over the age of 18, there is a good chance that she already has some form of HPV.

[|Elflocko|]

[quote name='#22' post='771868' date='Apr 29 2009, 10:55 PM']Right, Vaccines aren't a good idea in cases where the patient has immune deficiencies, but the one in a million chance of getting sick from a vaccine beats the 1 in 10 chance of getting ovarian cancer if you're a woman.

Opposition towards the HPV vaccine has generally been from Conservative Christians, btw, who seemed to think that the vaccine would encourage sexual proclivity. and not to sound like a weirdo or anything, but if you're girlfriend is over the age of 18, there is a good chance that she already has some form of HPV.[/quote]


It's cervical cancer, not ovarian.

And HPV is the most common STD if the most recent statistics I've seen are correct...

[#22]

oh yeah, my bad.

I think HPV affects anywhere from 25-50% of women in this country.

[|Elflocko|]

[quote name='#22' post='771871' date='Apr 29 2009, 10:58 PM']oh yeah, my bad.

I think HPV affects anywhere from 25-50% of women in this country.[/quote]

There's so many strains it's either warts, cancer, or nothing and it's probably closer to 50%.

We hosted a German exchange student last year, and every time he left the house to go meet his friends my wife would tell him "Just remember, 1 out of 4 teenage girls in Las Vegas has an STD".

[#22]

I was just looking at Herpes-2 #s (~25% of women in the US), but the numbers are up around 70% in Central Africa and in Greenland, of all places. Must get boring up there in the winter. The only thing I'm going to be fucking if I ever go there are the Walruses, and maybe the occaisional Narwhal.

[CTBengalsFan]

United States

HPV is estimated to be the most common sexually transmitted infection in the United States.[5] Most sexually active men and women will probably acquire genital HPV infection at some point in their lives.[6] The American Social Health Association reported estimates that about 75-80% of sexually active Americans will be infected with HPV at some point in their lifetime.[7][8] By the age of 50 more than 80% of American women will have contracted at least one strain of genital HPV.[9][10][11]

It was estimated that in the year 2000, there were approximately 6.2 million new HPV infections among Americans aged 15-44; of these, an estimated 74% occurred to people between ages 15-24.[12] Of the STDs studied, genital HPV was the most commonly acquired.[12]

Estimates of HPV prevalence vary from 14% to more than 90%.[13] One reason for the difference is that some studies report women who currently have a detectable infection, while other studies report women who have ever had a detectable infection.[14][15] Another cause of discrepancy is the difference in strains that were tested for.

One study found that, during 2003–2004, at any given time, 26.8% of women aged 14 to 59 were infected with at least one type of HPV. This was higher than previous estimates. 15.2% were infected with one or more of the high-risk types that can cause cancer. [b]However only 3.4% were infected with one or more of the four types prevented by the Gardasil vaccine, which was lower than previous estimates.[5][16][/b]

[CTBengalsFan]

[quote name='#22' post='771880' date='Apr 29 2009, 11:12 PM']I was just looking at Herpes-2 #s (~25% of women in the US), but the numbers are up around 70% in Central Africa and in Greenland, of all places. Must get boring up there in the winter. The only thing I'm going to be fucking if I ever go there are the Walruses, and maybe the occaisional Narwhal.[/quote]

:nasty: :nasty: :nasty:

[CTBengalsFan]

[quote name='CTBengalsFan' post='771866' date='Apr 29 2009, 10:53 PM']Calderon says they already have them :hmm:[/quote]

[tinfoil hat]



[/tinfoil hat]

To lend some credibility to this guy, when the anthrax outbreak after 9/11 happened he immediately fingered the plant that it was manufactured in and also said that it came out of Fort Detrick, MD, which they of course denied at first then later said it was in fact a scientist at Fort Detrick.