Making a swine flu vaccine
So officials are saying an immunization campaign to protect against the swine flu pandemic could involve as many as 600 million doses of vaccine.
Fortunately, the government has been counting its chickens.
The traditional way of making flu vaccine involves using eggs. Lots of eggs. Tens of millions of eggs. The virus is injected into the eggs and is grown inside for three days to produce large quantities to be used in vaccine production.
But these are not just any eggs and government scientists have long known that. These are eggs laid by special breeds of hens, eggs carefully guarded to be kept free of pathogens, eggs chosen to be more oval than round to fit properly in the machines at the Sanofi-Aventis production plant in Swiftwater, Penn.
"The chicken eggs you find on your grocery shelf won't work," Dr. Robin Robinson, director of the Biomedical Advanced Research Development Authority at HHS, told me last month.
When the avian flu outbreak started hitting Asia nearly six years ago, officials in the U.S. took notice. Sure they had enough eggs to produce seasonal flu. But would they have enough if there was an emergency and they needed to manufacture more vaccine? The answer was no. ...
With a 5-year, $44 million contract with more than 30 farms less than a day's drive from Swiftwater, HHS quietly got into the egg business.
Robinson told me he would try to arrange for me to visit one of the farms, but I still haven't gotten permission. I am being told officials have "security concerns" about giving me a tour. Robinson called the chickens part of the United States' "national critical infrastructure."
"If we don't have the birds, we don't have the eggs," he said. "If we don't have the eggs, we don't have the vaccine. We consider them enlisted in Uncle Sam's Army, so to speak."
No final decision has been made about whether a swine flu vaccine will be manufactured on a massive scale. To do that, not only will they need all of BARDA's eggs (475,000 a day) but also eggs from contingency farms under contract. If the eggs aren't needed, they can always be sold to be used in livestock feed. For pigs, actually.
Says Robinson: "We're so much better prepared than we would have been before."
Comments
Stephanie...
The NIH is now testing the Novavax virus-like-particle swine vaccine developed in only 21 days ready for manufacture.
http://www.novavax.com/download/File/Pha...
The VLP is the future of vaccines... faster to develope to "seed" status, and manufactured via insect cells...not eggs or mamalian cells... both slower and fragile methods.
An well researched article on Novavax is in order. They also have a zoster and RSV vaccine ready to go (almost) and a tri-valent influenza. HIV and SARS are not too far off.
Best to you..
Dick Swift
La Crosse, WI
Posted by: Dick Swift | June 30, 2009 10:17 AM
Stephanie, I had no idea that was how vaccines were made. Thanks for the post!
Posted by: Gerry | June 30, 2009 1:33 PM
what breed of hens lay the eggs for the flu vaccine
Posted by: lesley forster | October 20, 2009 12:54 PM