Just in time for the approaching flu season, the Food and Drug Administration has approved the first seasonal vaccine from Novartis manufactured by using animal cell cultures. All previous flu vaccines were produced by growing the virus in chicken eggs. But egg-grown vaccines can take up to six months before the vaccine can be delivered to pharmacies, and scaling up vaccine production to meet increased acute demand, such as when a new viral strain is thought to become epidemic, is often problematic.
Using animal cell cultures has the potential to eliminate these roadblocks, which were highlighted in 2009 with the outbreak of the swine flu, when egg-based influenza vaccines were unable to meet the demand of the pandemic. This points to yet another advantage of using cell cultures, which is that it is possible for manufacturers to maintain a supply of previously tested cells to be used for further vaccine production if needed.
All of these advantages lead to the likelihood that we will no longer see flu vaccines produced from egg-based cultures. Modern cell-culture technology will likely become the new standard for influenza vaccine production, says Andrin Oswald, head of Novartis vaccines and diagnostics division.
The new vaccine will be available in limited supply this flu season, Novartis says.
