Seqirus to join universal flu vaccine initiative

Manufacturer of egg-based influenza vaccines in the UK, Seqirus, has revealed it is joining the Human Vaccines Project’s Universal Influenza Vaccine Initiative (UIVI) — which is a collaborative effort to accelerate the development of a universal flu vaccine.

“With a heritage dating back to the influenza pandemic of 1918, Seqirus is pleased to bring its expertise to the Project, working alongside the eminent research organisations already involved,” said Dr Russell Basser, senior vice president of research and development at Seqirus. “Influenza remains one of our greatest global health threats and we are committed to collaborating with like-minded partners to advance understanding of the human response to influenza, and to discover new and innovative vaccine solutions.”

“While there have been recent advances in the development of better influenza vaccines, we need to continue to work towards more transformational solutions that provide higher levels of protection against multiple strains of influenza for longer periods of time,” added Wayne Koff, PhD, president and CEO of the Human Vaccines Project. “That’s why we are pleased to collaborate with Seqirus, a leading innovator in influenza vaccines, as we expand our partnership with global stakeholders to accelerate the development of a more broadly protective influenza vaccine.”

The UIVI was launched late last year (2017) and involves collaborative work by organisations and partners to rapidly accelerate the development of a universal flu vaccine that can provide long-lasting protection against seasonal and pandemic flu globally.

Research for this initiative will be performed using cutting-edge biomedical and machine learning technologies to develop models of the immune system. These models will have a basis in artificial intelligence — which gets smarter over time — and so should quickly speed up vaccine research.