"GlaxoSmithKline will be stretched to meet demands and have decided to add chemicals known as adjuvants to their vaccines. Adjuvants stimulate immune systems and so reduce amounts of vaccine needed to create antibody protection in an individual"
This bothers me
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/jun/14/swine-flu-pandemic-vaccine-influenza
"Hens' eggs remain the bulwark for vaccine production," said Professor Peter Dunnill, of the Centre for Biochemical Engineering at University College London. "It is a pretty ponderous business, however. Each egg has to be looked after carefully and you have to beware lest infections kill them off."
This point was backed by Dr James Robertson, leader of the team that created the RG121 strain. "Different strains behave differently in eggs and produce varying amounts of virus particles. In the case of our swine flu vaccine strain, we simply do not know yet how much virus you will get from each egg,
At present, pharmaceutical companies' estimates of the amounts of virus particles they will get from their eggs are optimistic. This could be a mistake, warn scientists, and companies could find they get less than a third or a quarter as many viral particles as they hoped for, a reduction that would, in turn, limit the number of vaccine doses available to the public.
Once viruses are extracted from eggs they are broken into pieces including bits of their protein coats. These protein pieces are important because they stimulate immune responses in humans and can be used to make a vaccine. "Coat proteins raise antibodies in the blood so that a person, coming across the real live virus, will be prepared to launch an immune attack against it," said Robertson.
But sometimes, it takes more than one dose of a vaccine to stimulate full protection. The current seasonal flu vaccine requires only a single shot but other vaccines require two inoculations, a point stressed by Dr Hay. "It may require two doses to provide significant immunity against swine flu," he told the Observer. And if a swine flu vaccine requires a double dose, this would also limit numbers of doses available to provide full protection as quickly as possible.
Even if viral production in eggs goes to plan, manufacturers such as GlaxoSmithKline will be stretched to meet demands and have decided to add chemicals known as adjuvants to their vaccines. Adjuvants stimulate immune systems and so reduce amounts of vaccine needed to create antibody protection in an individual. "We will be using adjuvants in our vaccines," said Stephen Rae of GlaxoSmithKline. "This will be the first time we have used them for a flu vaccine but we are confident they will work."
