FluGen's CHO-cell-based production system generates egg-free, 2009 H1N1 influenza vaccine virus

FluGen Inc., an emerging leader in the development, production and delivery of influenza vaccines, today announced that its proprietary CHO-cell-based production system has generated novel 2009 H1N1 influenza vaccine virus without the use of eggs during any step of production.

Unlike traditional vaccine production methods, FluGen’s CHO-based system does not use eggs. The company expects its cell-based, egg-free method to readily transfer to full-scale vaccine production and is in the process of developing a highly-efficient, production-scale system that will be available in the near future.

FluGen’s system would avoid the costly and time-consuming steps of egg-based production, including propagation of the virus in eggs and production of the vaccine itself in eggs. This egg-based process, by which all influenza vaccines are now produced, can take up to six months to deliver vaccine. The worldwide shortages of seasonal and novel 2009 H1N1 vaccine, exacerbated by this year’s influenza pandemic, highlight the need for a quicker, cleaner, egg-free vaccine production method like FluGen’s.

The company said that its proprietary CHO cells have demonstrated the ability to produce novel 2009 H1N1 vaccine virus safely, cost-effectively and at yields at least as high as the highest-producing mammalian cells used for growing influenza viruses. CHO cells have been in common use in protein research, pharmaceutical discovery and pharmaceutical production for decades.

“The results of our studies demonstrate that our CHO cells are a breakthrough vaccine production method, producing high yields of vaccine virus, so that eggs are no longer necessary to produce vaccines on a large scale,” said Paul V. Radspinner, president and chief executive of FluGen. “For these reasons, we believe that our CHO-based virus production system would have circumvented the current shortage of novel 2009 H1N1 vaccine. Our production system also will be very cost effective and safe for standard seasonal vaccines as well.”

FluGen is developing additional vaccine-production technologies that will be used in conjunction with its proprietary CHO cells to further enhance its vaccine virus production capabilities.

“We look forward to discussing additional technologies we are developing for use with our CHO cells that we believe could boost production yields extraordinarily higher,” Mr. Radspinner said.