FDA approves flu vaccine made using novel technology
AHA News Now
Jan 17, 2013
The Food and Drug Administration has approved a new seasonal flu vaccine for adults under 50 that does not require the flu virus or eggs for production. The technology uses an insect virus expression system and recombinant DNA technology to produce large quantities of the flu virus protein, hemagglutinin, the active ingredient in all inactivated flu vaccines. The vaccine, called Flublok, is made by Protein Sciences Corp. of Meriden, CT. "The new technology offers the potential for faster start-up of the vaccine manufacturing process in the event of a pandemic, because it is not dependent on an egg supply or on availability of the influenza virus," said Karen Midthun, M.D., director of the FDA's Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research.