Hvivo shares soar 57pc as it strikes gold with universal flu vaccine

A little British company has potentially struck gold with an experimental flu vaccine, sending its shares soaring by more than 57pc.

Hvivo, which is based in London and was spun out of Queen Mary University in 1988, has been developing the vaccine in partnership with a company called Seek Group.

What makes Hvivo’s vaccine different from existing ones is that it is a universal flu vaccine, which means it offers immunity and protection against any influenza virus, rather than specific strains. It does this by, among other things, tackling proteins within the virus, rather than those that sit on the outside of it.

Data from phase two trials suggest this broad-spectrum vaccine prevents people contracting influenza and reduces the severity of symptoms in those who do come down with the flu.

Hvivo plans to sell the vaccine to a large pharmaceutical company within the next few months.

Trevor Phillips, executive chairman of Hvivo, said several companies had already expressed interest.

"Companies have said, come talk to us when you have the data. It is an exciting opportunity and we expect this asset to be worth a large sum of money."

Possible acquirers are those with established vaccines businesses, including GlaxoSmithKline.

Shares in Hvivo, which is listed on London's junior Aim market and has a market capitalisation of just £25m, soared by 57pc to 31p.

“Existing flu vaccines are targeted towards specific strains and take nine months to produce so scientists have to guess what strain of flu they think will be the ones to circulate each year,” Mr Phillips said.

“They can only manufacture 350 million doses globally, so these vaccines are only given to the elderly, the young and those at risk. The thing people have been looking for is a universal vaccine that offers protection against any virus and that is what we think we have. The vaccine can  be given to people at any time as immunity lasts for up to five years."

Mr Phillips believes the global flu vaccine market, which is currently worth roughly £3bn, could grow to four times this figure with the advent of a universal vaccine.

"This is because this vaccine can be made in a manufacturing plant all year round and in bulk," he said.

Vaccine development is a new side business for Hvivo. The company earns its bread and butter exposes healthy volunteers to viruses or allergies to see what happens to their bodies as part of clinical studies by pharmaceutical companies into vaccine development.