Business, Research and Development

 

The Health Protection Agency uses its research and development expertise to deliver new treatments which benefit public health, working in partnership with the commercial and public sectors. Funding generated by business ventures is ploughed back into Agency's services and further research into health protection and public health. Some of our achievements in 2005/06 include:

 

Vaccine Development

Tuberculosis

The Bacille Calmette-Guerin vaccine against tuberculosis, better known as BCG, was developed over 80 years ago, and although effective in protecting young children from TB disease, its protection for adolescents and adults is very variable.

BCG is also not recommended for those who are immuno-compromised, such as people infected with HIV. Therefore, the development of a new vaccine is essential if TB is to be controlled and ultimately eradicated worldwide.

A number of groups from around the world, including the Agency are collaborating in major partnerships on vaccine development for TB. Two main strategies are being pursued: a pre-infection vaccine delivered in childhood, improved from the BCG vaccine; and a post-exposure vaccine that would invoke immunity to clinical disease after infection.

For their part, the European Union has invested €32 million in a project involving 52 research teams from 15 European and African countries. The Agency has a pivotal role because its advanced laboratory capabilities allow pathogenic micro-organisms to be handled under contained conditions. Candidate vaccines, produced by various collaborators, can be tested to determine which confers the greatest immunity, before progression to clinical trials.

In addition, we are researching which genes are important in causing disease under the conditions that the TB bacteria are likely to encounter within the body. This work involves examining which genes are switched on or off and measuring the different proteins that the bacteria manufacture when they cause disease or lie dormant. We hope that this work will contribute to developing new and better vaccines and medicines to treat, or tests to identify this serious disease.

 

Community-acquired pneumonia

Community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) is a common cause of hospitalisation in the over 50's, and the bacteria Streptococcus pneumoniae is probably the most common pathogen causing CAP.

In children the new pneumococcal conjugate vaccine, when introduced as part of the routine childhood immunisation schedule, will offer high levels of protection against invasive pneumococcal disease including some CAP.

Researchers from the Vaccine Evaluation Unit of the Agency, based in Gloucester, are now looking at the question of whether the conjugate vaccine would be effective against CAP in the over 50's age group.

The issue is complicated by the fact that laboratory confirmation is difficult in CAP cases, patients are treated on a presumptive basis, often after X-ray evidence of illness.

The Unit is working on a study in 2006 to find out how many people with chest infection or pneumonia are admitted to a given hospital in a year and how many of these infections are caused by the pneumococcal bacteria. That in turn will allow the Unit to calculate how much pneumonia could be prevented by the introduction of the pneumococcal conjugate vaccine in adults. The study period runs until the end of March 2007.

 

Business

Syntaxin

The Health Protection Agency is committed to working with industry wherever this provides opportunities to introduce new public health protection products. In November 2005, we established Syntaxin Ltd. The venture capital firm Abingworth Management Ltd made an initial investment of £3 million into the venture.

Syntaxin Ltd. acquired intellectual property from the Agency covering the use of botulinum neurotoxin components to treat a range of chronic diseases; in particular, it was given the rights to build on previous Agency work of re-engineering botulinum toxin into a potent painkiller.

The establishment of Syntaxin Ltd. is an important step for the Agency. It means that its cutting-edge research can be developed into products that will deliver direct health benefits to the public.

It is hoped that Syntaxin Ltd. will be the forerunner of other such companies involving the Agency.

Variant Creutzfeldt - Jakob Disease (vCJD)

Collaborative work with one of the Agency's commercial partners, Genencor International, led to the development and launch of an idea originally conceived by Health Protection Agency scientists.

The product, trade name PrionzymeT, is an enzyme that can destroy the prion proteins generally agreed to cause variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD). Currently, prion proteins can survive the conditions used to sterilise surgical instruments, leaving the possibility of some surgical procedures acting as a route of transmission for vCJD.

Laboratory studies showed that PrionzymeT substantially inactivates prions and it uses a method that could be adopted within hospital sterile service departments.

Use of PrionzymeT should also mean that the problem of safe disposal of previously contaminated instruments should be reduced.

The introduction of PrionzymeT, which was launched across the European Union, is an important contribution to efforts already in place to reduce incidents of vCJD infections from surgical procedures.

 

Drug to Fight Childhood Leukaemia

Staff at the Health Protection Agency worked with a new partner to market a drug to be used in the life-saving treatment of children with leukaemia.

The drug, called Erwinase®, will be used to treat patients who are allergic to current therapies. There is a considerable worldwide clinical demand for this treatment, because as many as 30 per cent of leukaemia patients develop an allergic reaction to current therapies, so the drug provides a much-needed alternative.

Erwinase® is used in the treatment of acute lymphoblastic leukaemia and some non-Hodgkin lymphomas. The Agency is working with OPi Pharmaceuticals who are packaging, marketing and distributing the drug which is manufactured by the Agency.

The funding generated by this venture is ploughed back into Agency services, enabling the Agency to maintain much needed research that benefits public health.

 

Marketing

The Health Protection Agency is still a relatively new name to many of our potential customers and partners. At the same time, the requirement to win new contracts for the Agency becomes more pressing, and many other organisations are also competing for the time and attention of potential clients. We have therefore undertaken a major sales and marketing effort during the past year, in order to highlight internationally the products and services offered by the Agency.

Marketing materials have been re-designed and re-printed to take account of the growing range of the Agency's services, and the ability to offer clients projects that draw on the expertise of multiple laboratories and that of partner organisations.

In communicating with potential customers, a wide range of media has been employed: Web marketing, brochures, trade shows, advertisements, presentations at industry events, newsletters and mail shots. In addition to the conventional marketing channels, professional relationships between our staff and those of partner organisations continue to be key in identifying and developing new opportunities.

 

Biosecurity

The potential for chemical, radiological, and biological terrorism was one of the threats underlying the formation of the Agency in 2003. Through planning, training, exercises and development of countermeasures, the Agency has strengthened its capacity to deal with this potential threat. This is not something that uniquely affects the UK , however, and co-operation with international partners is therefore key to success.

In particular, the United States and United Kingdom governments and the European Union have put very significant resources into development of new capabilities and countermeasures, giving rise to a number of large competitively-tendered programmes. The Agency has established a successful track record in bidding to carry out or manage these programmes, including work for government bodies, international agencies, and companies who require support in running exercises and in development of vaccines, therapeutic drugs, facilities, and equipment. Particular successes were the running of Exercise Common Ground for the European Union and the siting of new facilities at CEPR by the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

 

Training Courses in Ionising and Non-Ionising Radiation

The safety of any operations involving sources of either ionising or non-ionising radiation depends critically on the knowledge and competence of those managing and performing those operations. The Radiation Protection Division (RPD) of the Agency has a broad portfolio of courses, both scheduled, and tailored to particular operator's needs, which are designed to assist in the achievement of that goal.

Scheduled and customised courses aimed at users of ionising radiation in industry (as well as for dentists, and dental engineers), safety officers, and managers, are provided by the three RPD sites. In particular, a substantial programme of radiation awareness and Radiation Protection Supervisor training has been provided for HM Revenue and Customs as part of programme Cyclamen.

The Radiological Protection Training Scheme (RPTS) delivers training to radiological protection professionals through its scheduled courses.

We provide both scheduled and customised courses on non-ionising radiations, both as awareness courses covering the whole spectrum of non-ionising radiations, and occupational safety training for users of radiofrequency sources, lasers and optical devices (including those used in medical and cosmetic applications). A course on occupational electromagnetic fields (EMFs) is also being prepared to provide an up to date overview of the Physical Agents (EMFs) Directive.

Demand for Emergency Response Training has continued to grow. Training on behalf of RADSAFE to the emergency services and RADSAFE respondents has continued, and this year radiation awareness training has been provided to the ambulance service and staff in accident and emergency departments as part of a training programme developed by the Agency on behalf of the Department of Health.

We have also has been working with the Local and Regional Services Division to develop a training programme appropriate to the needs of relevant staff in that division.

Members of staff also contribute to courses run by other national providers, as well as to international organisations such as the EC, WHO and International Atomic Energy Authority (IAEA). Staff also make a major contribution to the MSc course on radiation and environmental protection offered by Surrey University , and to scheduled laser safety courses in association with Loughborough University .

Overall, RPD provided over 230 courses attended by 2500 delegates.