A Randomised, Controlled, Blinded Phase 1 Study to Evaluate the Immunogenicity and Safety of a Pandemic Avian H5 Influenza Vaccine in Adults

This is a study to test new vaccine formulations against pandemic avian influenza ("bird flu"). Bird flu is a potentially deadly disease that is caused by influenza virus from birds. It is not the same as the common seasonal flu for which there is a seasonal vaccine released around March each year. To date, bird flu due to the H5N1 strain of influenza virus has infected over 500 people mainly in Asia resulting in death in more than half the cases. More recently there has been an outbreak of another bird flu virus in China known as H9N7 that is also highly lethal when it infects humans. Vaccination is the single most effective measure to prevent infection from bird flu viruses such as H5N1 or H9N7 should such a pandemic occur. In the event of a major bird flu pandemic outbreak, vaccine supplies are likely to be very limited, as there is not currently sufficient manufacturing capacity to provide enough vaccine quickly for the whole population. Research is needed on how to make the pandemic flu vaccine more effective but also how to stretch vaccine supplies using a strategy called 'antigen-sparing'. This can potentially be achieved by using an important ingredient called an 'adjuvant'. Adjuvants act by stimulating the immune system to make vaccines more effective. This study will test Advax adjuvants which are based on delta inulin in combination with recombinant hemagglutinin from the H5N1 influenza virus serotype.