Mount Sinai School of Medicine today announced that it has entered into a territory limited license agreement with Avimex* Animal Health. The privately owned world-leader in the avian influenza H5 emulsified vaccine market will use Mount Sinai´s patented live recombinant Newcastle disease technology that contains an insertion of the H5 gene, for use in Brazil, India, Japan, Mexico, and Taiwan.

Inventors, Peter Palese, PhD, Chairman and Professor, Microbiology, Mount Sinai School of Medicine and Adolfo Garcia-Sastre, PhD, Professor, Microbiology, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, added the H5 gene to the Newcastle vaccine. When chickens were exposed to avian influenza and the Newcastle virus, birds vaccinated with the recombinant vaccine produced protection for both viruses.

"This effective combination vaccine protects against both Newcastle disease and avian influenza, and gives us the opportunity to eliminate two dreaded diseases in the poultry population, worldwide, for the first time," said Dr. Palese. "This vaccine became possible through extraordinary advances in the laboratory which allowed for the development of genetic engineering techniques for these RNA viruses, Newcastle disease and avian influenza."

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Avimex*, a Mexican based company known for its innovative research and development activities focused on the development of recombinant vaccines for poultry and swine, has successfully scaled up this vaccine and intends to produce it for poultry to defend against these diseases.

Vaccination with this recombinant vaccine in conjunction with the current Avimex* avian influenza emulsified vaccine will benefit the poultry industry worldwide, enhancing the ability to prevent, control and eventually erradicate avian influenza in poultry.

About The Mount Sinai Medical Center
The Mount Sinai Medical Center, located in New York City, consists of The Mount Sinai Hospital, a tertiary care facility known for excellence in patient care and Mount Sinai School of Medicine, a leader in medical research and in the education of tomorrow´s physicians by internationally known faculty. Founded in 1852, The Mount Sinai Hospital is one of the oldest voluntary teaching hospitals in the country and in 1963, the Hospital created Mount Sinai School of Medicine, beginning a close collaboration that has made Mount Sinai one of the leading academic medical center in the country. Today, the patients of Mount Sinai benefit as teams of physicians and scientists work together to rapidly translate laboratory research to new patient treatments. Many of the groundbreaking approaches that result from these collaborations are initially available at only a handful of facilities in the country--some, only at Mount Sinai. These advances make Mount Sinai the first choice for patients with complex medical and surgical needs.

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