The US agency that oversees biologics approved eight vaccines for diseases ranging from influenza to Japanese encephalitis in 2013 according to a new report.
Less H5N1 influenza vaccine than expected will be available in Japan this year after downstream processing problems at a plant being set up by Daiichi Sankyo.
The US regulatory scientists who oversee biopharmaceuticals appear to be getting the funding they asked for after politicians pass a $1.2tr (€882bn) Government spending plan for fiscal 2014.
The US Department of Health and Human Services has awarded almost $40m (29m Euros) in contracts to four contract flu vaccine manufacturers as part of an effort to increase fill and finish capacity by 20%.
The US FDA approval of the new quadrivalent flu vaccine in June has not quite given manufacturers enough time to meet demand expectations, as production time can take up to about six months.
Marinomed Biotechnologies is set to take on the ‘common cold’ in China with a new patent for an anti-viral polymer technology that prevents rhinovirus infection.
Cell culture, LAIV vaccines and recombinant DNA technology should be supported by the US government as part of a long-term overhaul of pandemic response capabilities, according to PCAST.
SAFC Pharma is preparing for the shift towards cell culture-based vaccines, while still supplying and growing in the traditional sector, to ensure it can grow in coming years, according to a company director.
Vaccines could be produced in less than 10 weeks from first isolation of the RNA sequence by using insect cell derived influenza VLPs, according to research which has implications for H1N1 and H5N1.
As the threat of new viruses like avian influenza have heightened
the need for greater speed and safety in vaccine production, single
use technologies are proving far more safe and economic than
traditional cleaning techniques, according...
Responding to surging demand for its flu drug Tamiflu, Roche has
announced it is expanding its external contractors to fifteen in
nine different countries, as its needs for intermediates and
finished product increase.
