Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

Next generation flu vaccine boosted by Chiron debacle

Nature Biotechnology volume 22, pages 1487–1488 (2004)Cite this article

More innovative solutions in flu vaccine production could prevent another flu vaccine shortage in the future.

The UK Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency suspended Chirons license to produce its flu vaccine FlurVirin, on October 5, because of its failure to comply with Good Manufacturing Practice requirements, leading to concerns about possible microbial contamination. That facility, which Chiron of Emeryville, California, acquired as part of its purchase in 2003 of Powderject Pharmaceuticals, was expected to produce up to 48 million doses of FlurVirin for the US market this year, almost half of the anticipated 100 million doses. As a result, the US government was left depending on a single large-scale vaccine supplier, Aventis Pasteur, of Lyons, France. It then scoured the world to buy any available surpluses (see Box 1).

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Rent or buy this article

Prices vary by article type

from$1.95

to$39.95

Learn more

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Dublin

    Cormac Sheridan

Authors
  1. Cormac Sheridan
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Related links

Related links

Related links in Nature Research

UK biointradermal immunization if there is a shortage Chiron

Public–private partnerships boost research on neglected diseases

Related external links

Chiron

Aventis Pasteur

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Sheridan, C. Next generation flu vaccine boosted by Chiron debacle. Nat Biotechnol 22, 1487–1488 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1038/nbt1204-1487

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nbt1204-1487

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing