The flu, malaria and even gonorrhoea will be studied to help the first lab in the southern hemisphere stay one step ahead of the prime candidate for the next pandemic.
Beds neatly made, fresh white walls – at first glance, this renovated ward in an old hospital building in East Melbourne seems entirely ordinary.
The unit, to be launched on Monday, will specialise in early phase and human-challenge clinical studies. “The rate of gonorrhoea is going up and up. It’s a major problem as well in the developing world, where it’s a huge cause of infertility and inflammatory disease. We really need new treatments for it.”But influenza is the key focus and inspiration for Doherty Clinical Trials. The respiratory disease, known as the flu, typically kills thousands of Australians each year.
Volunteers at Doherty Clinical Trials can withdraw any time, though they may need to remain in quarantine if they are infectious. They are also paid for their time, at a rate controlled by the ethics committee, often equivalent to the minimum wage. “We can actually measure the response before people get sick, and then we can cure them with a licensed antimalarial, so they don’t even malaria.”