Bird flu virus is closer than ever to finding its enemy, as the first experimental bird flu vaccine created by using monkeys’ cells instead of chicken eggs, appears to be safe, more effective than the one currently approved for human use and also can be stockpiled quickly.

According to the World Health Organization, there have been 382 human cases worldwide since 2003, 241 of them fatal. Indonesia is the hardest hit region of all, with 108 of the deaths and is seen by health experts as a potential hotspot for a pandemic.

Scientists have long warned that the H5N1 strain of bird flu virus could mutate into a form that spreads easily among humans, leading to a pandemic that would kill millions. So far, most human cases have been linked to contact with infected birds.

The vaccine called Celvapan is made by Baxter International Inc. and was used on a trail involving 284 human subjects in Austria and Singapore. A parallel study involving the same vaccine has been under way in the U.S. to meet requirements for the Food and drug Administration.

The mid-stage testing of the vaccine showed two shots produced an immune response considered strong enough to protect 76 percent of healthy adults compared with only 45 percent protection of the currently approved vaccine.

The new vaccine produced in large vats containing cell cultures takes about 12 weeks to be made compared with 22 weeks in the case of the current vaccines, which are grown in fertilized hens’ eggs. This technique, which could represent the future of influenza vaccine production, enables Baxter to produce more shots faster, saving time in the event of a global flu pandemic.

The vaccine is “unique,” “provides protection among several bird flu virus strains” (against H5N1 Vietnam strain, Hong Kong strain – a 76 percent protection and against Indonesian strain – a 45 percent protection), takes half the time the traditional vaccine does to be produced and “does not require an additive to boost an immune response,” author of the European study Dr. Hartmut J. Ehrlich, vice president of Baxter Global research & Development, in Vienna concluded.

Conclusively, the new vaccine seems to have all qualities required for being a leader on the flu vaccine market, which has struggled for some 10 years to find it since the H5N1 avian influenza emerged in Hong Kong.

Baxter appears to be a leader as well among companies trying to produce an efficient flu vaccine. At least 16 other pharmaceutical companies are working on vaccines against H5N1, not even knowing if they work against it.