Influenza cell-culture vaccine production

Abstract

Influenza vaccination is currently the principal means of reducing or counteracting influenza mortality and morbidity burden in the community. Since the early development of monovalent killed-virus vaccine formulations in the 1940s, different principal strategies were followed by vaccine manufactures resulting in a variety of influenza vaccines (e.g., inactivated whole-virus vaccines, live attenuated vaccines, detergent or solvent “split” vaccines, subunit vaccines, and adjuvanted vaccines). Actually two main production processes, the classical egg-based technology and more recently cell-culture-based operations, can be distinguished. In addition different routes of immunization allow the generation of intramuscular-, intradermal-, and intranasal-influenza vaccines. The development and the production of influenza vaccines is based on a complex manufacturing process starting with the selection and development of optimal candidate vaccine viruses, and it requires various dynamic interactions with regulatory authorities and health-care officials. Planning for vaccine supplies and use as well as provision of other related health-care resources are essential components of a comprehensive seasonal and pandemic influenza response. Rapid spread of influenza viruses during seasonal epidemics and occasional pandemics tightly frames the whole process if vaccine is to be manufactured and delivered on time. There is a continuous effort to develop new and safe influenza vaccines and improve reagents for strain-specific potency testing to face complex influenza-related challenges better.