July 26, 2006

US researchers working on cell-cultured flu vaccines
 

Researchers at Michigan State University (MSU) are fine-tuning a way of producing flu vaccines that could cut the production time of any flu vaccine by half.

Current vaccines are manufactured using killed virus cultured from fertilized chicken eggs, which can be a slow process, according to Paul Coussens, an MSU professor of large animal science and microbiology and molecular genetics. Manufacturers could take six to nine months to produce a year's worth of vaccine, which is too slow should a bird flu pandemic break out, he said.

The MSU professor found that almost every type of flu virus can be cultured using a line of cells taken from chicken embryos. Growing the virus in a cell culture, he said, could cut production time in half.

The technology was actually discovered and patented in 1999 by HepaLife Technologies Inc, a Vancouver biotechnology company. It was licensed to MSU this year to produce a cell culture-based flu vaccine.

HepaLife President Harmel Rayat said the potential for a flu pandemic made the new technology much more significant.

Cell-based flu vaccines are also safe for people with egg allergies, he added.

Although the technique has yet to gain FDA approval, MSU would be collaborating with HepaLife in some aspects of the research. Coussens said the process may take three to five years. However, it may be accelerated if there is a clear and present danger of a pandemic, he warned.