On Tuesday, the FDA announced that it approved the first flu vaccine comprising animal cell cultures. The vaccine, to be marketed under the trademark FLUCELVAX, is a Novartis product. FLUCELVAX will be manufactured in Novartis’ brand new North Carolina plant.
The vaccine is produced with virus strains that are grown in animal cell cultures derived from mammals instead of in chicken eggs. Similar cell culture technology has long been used to produce other types of vaccines, FDA said.
FDA press release here.