One sticking point was Japan's inability to guarantee supplies of the vaccine for Thailand if a pandemic breaks out, said Dr Phaijit Warachit, director-general of the Medical Sciences Department.

Researchers here would use either the H5N1 virus' genetic information disseminated by the World Health Organisation or cultivate the virus from samples taken from real human cases of bird flu.

Siriraj Hospital and the National Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (Biotec) are working together in developing an avian-flu vaccine prototype, but the preliminary tests have proven unsatisfactory so far, he said.

This could present an opportunity for the private sector to produce the prototype vaccine for use in the country's clinical trial, he said.

A significant problem facing the project was the lack of success by scientists in reproducing the H5N1 virus in their tissue cultures, said Professor Morakot Tanticharoen, director of Biotec.

Given the capacity of the project, up to 10 years would be needed to complete the trial, she said.

As for the progress of the herbal drug trial using Phyto-1 (Hyptis suaveolens (L) Poit) to treat human influenza and bird flu in humans, Phaijit said the third phase, involving about 1,000 volunteers, would be concluded in four to five months.

If successful, this herbal medication would be the world's first drug made from Phyto-1, he said.

"This pharmaceutical trial is a highlight of the ministry ... we expect to see a new drug which can be used to substitute for the imported anti-viral drug," he said.

Dungkamon  Sajirawattanakul

The Nation