Natural antibody disovery brings universal flu vaccine one step closer

Annually changing flu vaccines with their hit-and-miss effectiveness may soon give way to a single, near-universal flu vaccine, according to a new report from scientists at The Scripps Research Institute and the Dutch biopharmaceutical company Crucell. They describe an antibody that, in animal tests, can prevent or cure infections with a broad variety of influenza viruses, including seasonal and potentially pandemic strains. The finding, shows the influenza subtypes neutralized with the new antibody include H3N2, strains of which killed an estimated one million people in Asia in the late 1960s. “Together this antibody and the one we reported in 2009 have the potential to protect people against most influenza viruses,” said Ian Wilson, who is the Hansen Professor of Structural Biology and a member of the Skaggs Institute for Chemical Biology at Scripps Research. Tackling a Major Shortcoming Wilson’s laboratory has been working with Crucell scientists since 2008 to help them overcome the major...