Peanut oil used in vaccines
WASHINGTON, Sept. 18—A pharmaceutical manufacturer has developed a vaccine that it predicts will considerably lengthen immunity from influenza and other virus infections, thereby requiring fewer “shots.”
The key ingredient, called Adjuvant 65, which contains peanut oil, was patented this week for Merck & Co., Inc., by Dr. Allen F. Woodhour and Dr. Thomas B. Stim. They, discovered it in the company's research laboratory at West Point, Pa.
Present procedure, according to Merck, is to give annual injections of killed influenza virus, which are expected to afford protection for a year. The hope is that the new vaccine will extend the immunity to at least two years and be more effective during that period.
The current issue of the New England Journal of Medicine reports favorably on studies in which 880 persons received killed influenza virus in Adjuvant 65.
The new vaccine is still under study and is not yet licensed for general use.
Adjuvant slowly releases antigens, the active ingredients of vaccines, which stimulate the creation of antibodies in the human system over an extended period, Merck said.
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Adjuvant is an emulsion of refined. peanut oil in water to which are added an emulsifier and a stabilizer.
As the company explains it, the antigens are contained in small particles of water, which are surrounded by the oil. When injected into the body, the emulsion is distributed along the muscle fibers. The antigens are released as the peanut oil is absorbed by the body's tissues.