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Vaccines, the venerable guardians against measles, mumps and polio, are making a comeback after years of neglect because of their potential to fight a bird flu outbreak and prevent deadly diseases such as cervical cancer.

Vaccines, the venerable guardians against measles, mumps and polio, are making a comeback after years of neglect because of their potential to fight a bird flu outbreak and prevent deadly diseases such as cervical cancer. After largely abandoning the business, companies are building new labs and spending hundreds of millions of dollars on vaccine research.

8216;8216;There8217;s a resurgence,8217;8217; said Frank Sloan of Duke University, who chaired a National Academy of Sciences committee that just three years ago lamented the sorry state of vaccine innovation and production. The heightened attention will receive a further boost with the US Food and Drug Administration8217;s approval this week of the HPV vaccine for cervical cancer. It would be the third vaccine to win agency approval in as many months, after regulators allowed sales of vaccines to treat shingles among the elderly and a common stomach virus in children.

To prepare for a possible bird flu outbreak, the US government is spending more than 160 million to stockpile vaccines. Earlier this year, it gave companies more than 1 billion to develop faster production techniques. What8217;s more, the National Institute of Health is conducting basic research to pave the way for the next generation of flu vaccines. Said Dr Gary Nabel, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases8217; vaccine research centre: 8216;8216;That translates into more support for research .8217;8217;

Companies have taken notice. In April, the Swiss company Novartis bought a California vaccine maker for 5.4 billion. Within the last year, GlaxoSmithKline of London has purchased a Canadian manufacturer, acquired a research and production facility in Marietta, Pennsylvania, and expanded another in Germany. Sanofi Pasteur, a French company, is building three plants in Pennsylvania. Said Christine Fanelle of Merck 038; Co8217;s vaccine division in Pennsylvania: 8216;8216;The adult and adolescent markets are untapped for vaccines.8217;8217;

Indeed, vaccines no longer concentrate on communicable diseases afflicting children. Last year, the FDA approved a vaccine for bacterial meningitis in college students. The HPV vaccine would be for girls and women ages 9 to 26, and the shingles vaccine is for people 60 years and older. Even seasonal flu vaccines are being recommended for more than just the sick, young and elderly. A broader clientele means bigger sales.

The global market for vaccines in 2005 was 5.8 billion, according to IMS Health, which tracks pharmaceutical sales. 8216;8216;Over the next five years it8217;s a booming market for vaccines,8217;8217; said Zach Wagner, senior pharmaceuticals analyst at Edward Jones, in St. Louis.

The Center for Disease Control spends more than 2 billion a year to help state and local health departments inoculate the under-insured, predominantly children. The budget for the agency8217;s Vaccines for Children programme has increased sharply, said Dr Lance Rodewald, who runs the CDC8217;s immunisation office that supports state and local departments. But advocates and scientists worry that budget restrictions will erode the spending power of the CDC8217;s other vaccine program, making it even tougher for health departments to help low-income adults especially. 8216;8216;We have these new and wonderful vaccines to protect against cancer and other diseases, but yet half of the adult population won8217;t be able to afford them,8217;8217; said Dr Neal Halsey, a Johns Hopkins University professor who chairs the immunisation working group of the Infectious Diseases Society of America.

Jonathan D. Rockoff