Examination of Witnesses (Questions 200
- 201)
MONDAY 25 FEBRUARY 2008
Professor Peter Borriello, Professor Mike Catchpole,
Professor Francis Drobniewski and Professor Peter Chiodini
Q200 Lord Howarth of Newport:
There is nothing that we should be doing that we are not doing?
Professor Borriello: I do not think so. One
of the key areas of major interest and activity, of course, has
been whether we can develop a vaccine very quickly. So yes, we
might catch the first phase but can we have a vaccine soon after
that? The answer is, technically, probably yes; but, again, scale-up
and distribution is where the issue is. That is why governments
around the world, including the UK, are saying "Should we
stockpile one that might work just in case, which will give us
a breathing space to hit that first phase or not?" It is
a dilemma to which there is not actually a clear-cut, evidence-based
answer, to be honest. It is the best view based on the evidence
available.
Q201 Baroness Falkner of Margravine:
There has been quite a lot of reporting around Tamiflu, which
we know of, but is there scientific research going on across the
world, not just in the UK, to develop a range, to anticipate the
virology and to develop a range? In other words, should Tamiflu
fail, are there back-ups that we know of already?
Professor Borriello: Yes, if I understand correctly,
there are three classes of antivirals for flu which hit different
targets, so that if you get a mutation in one gene to a particular
target, it is less likely, or it is very unlikely, to confer resistance
to some of the other anti virals which hit it at a different place.
In crude terms, one goes for the head, one goes for the heart
and one goes for the legs, so if you develop the hard head, you
still can hit it in the heart. The problem with flu is that—and
I will not go into the detail—because of the nature of the
organism, it does not have a method to quickly and readily correct
mistakes, so the downside is that, if mistakes in its genetic
armoury are bad for the organism, it kills itself, but if they
confer just by chance a survival capability or a resistance, that
can also happen very quickly. So, because it does not correct
its errors, it is always making them, and frequently it can be
to its advantage. That is what makes it such a hard target.
Chairman: That is a very cheerful note to end
on. Thank you very much for that. I am very grateful. My apologies
for the interruptions, which are an occupational hazard here.
Again, it enables me to say that, if there are issues which we
have not covered that you think we should have covered, or indeed
one or two where I asked you to come back on anyway, please do
so. Thank you very much again for your time.
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