Analysts say cell-based and recombinant flu vaccines are the future

Citing poor seasonal influenza efficacy, industry analyst GlobalData says that manufacturers should move away from egg-based manufacturing and adopt modern cell-based and recombinant approaches instead.

Last week the US Food and Drug Administration said it was working to figure out why reduced effectiveness against the H3N2 strain of influenza A was observed in what was the country’s worst flu epidemic in a decade. Estimates suggest effectiveness levels were at around 25%.

The analysts say that vaccine manufacturers should embrace the modernization of commercial mass production of seasonal influenza vaccines, which are “capable of producing vaccines that are better designed for combatting circulating strains of the influenza virus.”