A vaccine against a highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza virus, "GC Flu H5N1 Pre-filled Syringe Injection" has been approved by the MFDS, Green Cross announced.

The said avian influenza vaccine is the first of its kind in Korea to be developed by a domestic manufacturer. This is the second avian influenza vaccine that has been granted an approval in Korea.

Green Cross explained that its vaccine is designed as a pre-pandemic vaccine. Pre-pandemic vaccines are vaccines manufactured using the virus strain most likely to cause an endemic prior to an infectious pandemic.

The approval, according to the leading Korean vaccine manufacturer, will make the nation more ready in the face of a highly pathogenic avian influenza-caused pandemic.

MOGAM Institute at Green Cross had been at the forefront of developing the vaccine as part of a project commissioned by the Korea Centers for Disease Prevention and Control since December, 2007.

Green Cross asserted that their new vaccine is the result of its, "decades of accumulated vaccine manufacturing know-hows coupled with vaccine research and development prowess possessed by the MOGAM Institute," and it added that the development is "significant in that it will help prepare Korea better in the fight against an infectious pandemic in a more efficient manner."

An avian influenza is a respiratory disease infecting the birds, yet a highly pathogenic H5N1 can be contracted between humans. A high pathogenicity is translated into a high rate of virus proliferation.

Since 2003, 844 patients in 13 countries including Indonesia, Egypt, Vietnam and China are reported to have been infected with the virus, of which more than half or 53%, to be specific, have died, said Green Cross.

Dec., 31, 2015, Yonhap News, Korea