CSL flags ‘boosters’ for new flu jab
AUSTRALIAN biotechnology titan CSL says its new cellbased influenza vaccine proved more effective than its traditional product during the US flu season.
And the group has flagged it is advancing “boosters” to improve the immune response of children and the elderly.
CSL subsidiary Seqirus yesterday presented new data revealing its cell-based quadrivalent influenza vaccine was 36.2 per cent more effective than standard egg-based quadrivalent vaccines in preventing influenza-like illnesses during the last US flu season.
“The burden of influenza is a global healthcare concern and Seqirus is committed to developing new and potentially better vaccines that help reduce the hundreds of thousands of deaths and severe illness caused every year by influenza,” CSL chief scientific officer Andrew Cuthbertson said.
“Since we acquired the cellbased technology just three years ago, we have increased vaccine production five-fold and introduced cell-derived starting viruses – rather than viruses that have been optimised to grow in eggs.”
CSL said developing new and better influenza vaccine technologies was a strategic priority for Seqirus, including further advancing cell-based technology as well as adjuvants – or “immune boosters” – to enhance the immune response of those particularly vulnerable to influenza such as children and the elderly.