Bill to jump-start universal flu vaccine efforts

Senators ask HHS for research status
On the same day the senators proposed the law, they sent a letter to Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Alex Azar asking for more details on HHS work to more accurately pick vaccine virus strains, speed up vaccine production, prepare hospitals and providers for a severe flu season, and progress with developing a universal flu vaccine.

“A subpar vaccine not only impacts our ability to respond to the seasonal flu, but it leaves us at continued risk for a pandemic flu,” they wrote, adding that they appreciated the important flu-related work that is already under way by federal agencies.

But are requested funds enough?
Michael Osterholm, PhD, MPH, director of the University of Minnesota’s Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy (CIDRAP), led a group that in 2012 published an in-depth analysis of problems with current flu vaccines and steps needed to develop a next-generation flu vaccine with the potential to blunt the impact of a future pandemic. CIDRAP is the publisher of CIDRAP News.

One of the main recommendations was a new model to support the develop and licensing of novel vaccines, which includes declaring vaccines a national priority and dedicating substantial investment and leadership on the scale of the Manhattan Project, which during World War II brought about the first nuclear weapons.

He said the attention geared toward a better flu vaccine and the funding the lawmakers propose is clearly welcome and necessary. However, Osterholm said though the funding proposed in the law would be a good first down-payment on a better vaccine and tops what the nation is currently spending, it falls short of what’s needed.

In a New York Times commentary in January on persistent gaps in global pandemic preparedness, Osterholm and his coauthor Mark Olshaker wrote that that the search for an HIV vaccine rightfully receives $1 billion annually, a total that would be similar to what governments, vaccine manufacturers, and the philanthropic community would need to develop a new kind of flu vaccine over the next decade.

He told CIDRAP News today that, with an estimate of $20 billion in lost work for seasonal flu, “the next pandemic would bring the world to its knees. The real cost of getting this done is the absolute cost of not getting it done.”

— Read more in the proposed Flu Vaccine Act; 15 February letter to HHS; and Michael T. Osterholm and Mark Olshakerjan, “We’re not ready for a flu pandemic,” New York Times (8 January 2018)