FDA Approves New Seasonal Influenza Vaccine Made Using Novel
Technology The U.S. Food and Drug Administration recently
announced that it has approved Flublok, the first trivalent
influenza vaccine made using an insect virus (baculovirus)
expression system and recombinant DNA technology. Flublok is
approved for the prevention of seasonal influenza in people 18
through 49 years of age. Unlike current flu vaccines, Flublok
does not use the influenza virus or eggs in its production.
Flublok’s novel manufacturing technology allows for production
of large quantities of the influenza virus protein,
hemagglutinin (HA) – the active ingredient in all inactivated
influenza vaccines that is essential for entry of the virus into
cells in the body. The majority of antibodies that prevent
influenza virus infection are directed against HA. While the
technology is new to flu vaccine production, it is used to make
vaccines that have been approved by the FDA to prevent other
infectious diseases. “This approval represents a tech