No more flu vaccine shortages in the future?

The Wall Street Journal had an interesting article this week on a new procedure that will shorten the time it takes to produce influenza vaccine. Current technologies include the growth of real influenza viruses inside chicken eggs, which can take up to six months. The new technology that is up for FDA approval next week uses genetic material from an influenza virus, which is then inserted into a virus that infects caterpillars. The manipulated cells are then grown in a stainless-steel fermentation vessel for three or four days. This new process will take less than two weeks, and safety and efficacy testing will take another month. Aside from the implications this will have for emergency responses for flu outbreaks in the future, the article also raises the question of how the FDA approves new drugs versus how regulatory bodies in other countries approve drugs. Novartis already has a flu vaccine that is grown in a dog-kidney-derived cell-culture system, which takes one month less than the traditional chicken-egg technology. This vaccine has been approved for use in a number of countries outside the U.S.

Source:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125815143285947561.html#articleTabs%3Darticle