A new article in Biotechnology Journal proposes a method of producing influenza vaccine that’s more efficient than the traditional egg-based technology. It uses “virus-like particles” (VLPs) created in insect cells to form the basis of a vaccine. (This technology is apparently already approved for vaccines against some other diseases.)
The article was written by scientists in Austria who produced a VLP vaccine against H1N1 that, in mice at least, triggered a robust immune response. If this type of vaccine becomes a viable option for humans, its production speed would help public-health authorities respond more quickly to flu pandemics and viral mutations.
Veteran flu journalist Maryn McKenna cautioned recently, however, that emerging vaccine technologies like this one “remain in the realm of basic science or in preclinical testing” for influenza. In other words: flu-vaccine production will probably still rely on chicken eggs in the immediate future.
