Japanese brewery makes antibody that fights bird flu
The scramble to develop a cure for bird flu got a fillip when one of Japan's largest breweries, Kirin, claimed that it's American subsidiary, Gemini Science Inc. had produced an antibody that may work as a cure for bird flu.
According to the company, in lab tests done on mice, the antibody worked as an effective remedy. There were plans to formulate a drug by way of a partnership, however, the commercialization of any emergent product would take a fairly long while, a company spokesperson said, adding the company intends to continue the research.
The news boosted the share price of the company had taking it up by a good 12 percent. The gain of 153 yen which took Kirin's stock price to 1,471 on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, was the biggest in percentage terms since 1999.
In a related development, Nisshinbo Industries Inc. also enjoyed a bullish run on the stock market last week, in the wake of its announcement that it had devised a new kind of fabric that was resistant to the bird flu virus.
The deadly H5N1 strain of the virus that causes bird flu has accounted for 71 deaths in Asia since 2003 and anti-bird flu measures are a major talking point there.
|
|
