US plans for avian flu

Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Mike Leavitt reported this week on preparations for a possible influenza pandemic, promised to act soon to boost US flu vaccine production capacity and promote cell-based vaccine technology. In a 12-page report, Leavitt said HHS will request proposals from the industry next month on ways to boost production with the existing egg-based technology and will award contracts this spring for the development of cell-based vaccines. In addition, HHS intends to award contracts by September for developing new flu antiviral drugs, he said. Congress appropriated $3.3 billion in December 2005.  According to the Pandemic Planning Update, more than two thirds of that money will go for vaccines and antivirals.The US does not have enough capacity to make enough egg-based flu vaccine to supply the entire population, according to the the report.

HHS is working with industry to determine ways to increase that capacity, including developing new facilities and expanding production in existing facilities. A request for formal proposals will be issued in April 2006.

The report says that cell-based vaccine technology promises to be more reliable, flexible, and expandable than egg-based methods, with which production takes about 6 months. HHS awarded a $97 million contract to Sanofi Pasteur in April 2005 for development of a cell-based flu vaccine, and the agency expects "to award additional contracts for developing cell-based vaccines this spring,"  When the pandemic plan was released last fall, HHS officials predicted it would take 4 to 5 years to bring cell-based flu vaccines to the point of usability. HHS has also contracted with two companies (Sanofi Pasteur and Chiron Corp.) to make about 8 million doses of vaccine based on a strain of the H5N1 virus that infected humans in Vietnam in 2004; and last week HHS announced plans to begin working on a second "pre-pandemic" vaccine, based on a 2005 strain of H5N1 from Indonesia.