AUSTRALIAN and US bioterrorism experts believe research by a
Melbourne-based company will lead to the world's first anti-anthrax spray,
which can be used to protect troops and civilians from an anthrax
attack.
The Defence Department is co-operating with the company,
Anadis, to develop a spray that will offer immediate temporary protection
against such bio-warfare.
The spray could be inhaled up to 48 hours before an expected anthrax
attack to temporarily neutralise the agent until a suitable antibiotic can
be administered.
The technology will be showcased at the world's biggest biotechnology
conference, BIO 2004, beginning in San Francisco today.
Four premiers – Peter Beattie (Queensland), Bob Carr (NSW), Steve
Bracks (Victoria) and Mike Rann (South Australia) – signed an agreement at
the conference to jointly market their biotechnology capabilities.
If the spray is successfully developed, it could create an export
market worth millions of dollars because of growing concerns about the
likelihood of bioterrorist attacks on western nations.
Any effective anti-anthrax spray would also be of interest to the
military.
Both the Australian Defence Force and the US military have experienced
problems with the current anti-anthrax vaccines, which have caused serious
side-effects to some troops.
At present, once a victim breathes anthrax and the agent produces
sufficient toxin, there is nothing that can be done to save the person's
life.
Anadis has patented a technology to isolate fragments of the
antibodies.
The federal Government is giving
$780,000 to help develop the spray, which has already
attracted the attention of one of the US's key biodefence research
institutes, the Mid-Atlantic Regional Centre of Excellence in Biodefence
and Emerging Infectious Diseases.
Mr Bracks is expected to announce at the conference today that
scientists at La Trobe University have developed a tool that could lead to
the early detection of anthrax infection.
Such technology, if developed successfully, could allow anthrax victims
to seek medical help before symptoms develop, by which stage drugs are
useless.
Anthrax has been used in several acts of bioterrorism, including when a
sect in Japan pumped the bacteria into a Toyko factory and when anthrax
spores were mailed to the US Senate and media outlets after the September
11 attacks, killing postal workers.
Mick Foley, the molecular biologist heading up the La Trobe team, said
the early detection technology would work like a pregnancy test. "The test
could give a colour signal if anthrax spores are detected and no colour if
they are absent," he said.
"Ultimately the test should be simple and cheap – a bit like a
pregnancy test."
hpn