Replikins, Ltd. published a FluForecast® warning in April 7th, 2008, a year before the recent Mexico and California H1N1 cases. The company was able to state the likelihood of H1N1 outbreaks based on its patented Replikin Count™ genomics technology, which examines specific regions in virus genes which have been linked with past epidemics.

The April 2008 announcement, attached below as published on the Web, stated that in H1N1 the company had then detected the highest concentrations of these specific regions ever seen, except for those from the 1918 pandemic which killed millions of people. Today, the company is actively pursuing licensing partnerships to apply its groundbreaking technology not only to early warning systems, but also to the development of synthetic vaccines to prevent or slow future epidemics.

Replikins, Ltd. published a FluForecast® warning on April 7th, 2008, a year before the recent Mexico and California H1N1 cases. The company was able to state the likelihood of H1N1 outbreaks based on its patented Replikin Count™ genomics technology, which examines specific regions in virus genes which have been linked with past epidemics.

A synthetic H1N1 Replikins Vaccine is available for testing. A similar synthetic Replikin Vaccine has been shown to successfully block the entry of H5N1 virus into, replication in, and excretion from chickens. Another synthetic Replikin Vaccine has been shown to protect 91% of shrimp from the lethal Taura Syndrome Virus. The company is able to produce these vaccines in as little as 7 days, rather than the many months needed for traditional vaccines, because they are synthesized at the peptide level.

The following is the text of the April 2008 release in which Replikins was able to pinpoint the high risk of H1N1 outbreaks:

"H1N1 Influenza Virus with Highest Replikin Count™ Since the 1918 Pandemic Identified in the U.S. and Austria

Boston, MA (PRWeb) April 7, 2008 -- Replikins, Ltd. has found that the Replikin Count™ of the H1N1 strain of influenza virus has recently increased to 7.6 (plus/minus 1.4), its highest level since the 1918 H1N1 pandemic (p value less than 0.001). A rising Replikin Count of a particular influenza strain, indicating rapid replication of the virus, is an early warning which has been followed consistently by an outbreak of the specific strain. The current increase appears to be specific to H1N1; there was a concurrent 80% decline in the Replikin Count of H3N2, for instance.

The current H1N1 appears to be rapidly replicating simultaneously in the U.S. and Austria. It may succeed H5N1 as the leading candidate for the next expected overdue pandemic. However, the same virus replikin structures detected by FluForecast® software in all three previous pandemics, namely 1918 H1N1, 1957 H2N2, and 1968 H3N2, as well as in H5N1, have not yet been detected in the currently evolving H1N1.

There is evidence that many factors, including virus structure, host receptivity, and the environment, together with infectivity and rapid replication, need to converge for a pandemic to occur. For H5N1, the high human mortality rate, which peaked at over 80% in 2006-07 in Indonesia, as well as current low infectivity, both appear to limit H5N1's ability to produce a pandemic. Furthermore, the H5N1 rapid replication cycle which began in 1996 now appears to be over. The H5N1 virus produced less than 300 World Health Organization confirmed deaths over the past 10 years.

On the other hand, H1N1, with an estimated human mortality rate of only 2.5 to 10%, but with much higher infectivity, produced an estimated 50 million deaths in the 1918 pandemic. A number of countermeasures exist today which did not exist in 1918, however. Among these is Replikins' ability to manufacture synthetic vaccines based on current sequences, with a seven day production turnaround. (end of 4/2008 release)

In the April 2008 announcement above, as published on the Web, Replikins stated that it had detected the highest levels of its specific genome regions ever seen in any virus samples, except for those from the 1918 pandemic which killed tens of millions of people. Today, the company is actively pursuing licensing partnerships to apply its groundbreaking technology not only to early warning systems, but also to the development of synthetic vaccines to prevent or slow future epidemics.

The original release can be found at http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/103052.php and http://www.bio-medicine.org/biology-technology-1/H1N1-Influenza-Virus-With-Highest-Replikin-Count-28TM-29-Since-the-1918-Pandemic-Identified-in-the-U-S--and-Austria-4432-1/, among other sites.

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