Improving seasonal and pandemic influenza vaccines

Abstract

Challenges facing seasonal and pandemic influenza vaccination include: increasing the immunogenicity of seasonal vaccines for the most vulnerable, increasing vaccination coverage against seasonal influenza, and developing vaccines against pandemic strains that are immunogenic with very low quantities of antigen to maximize the number of people who can be vaccinated with a finite production capacity. We review Sanofi Pasteur's epidemic and pandemic influenza research and development programmes with emphasis on two key projects: intradermal influenza vaccine for seasonal vaccination of both elderly and younger adults, and pandemic influenza vaccine.

Figure 1

Geometric mean titres of haemagglutination inhibiting antibodies against clade 1 H5N1 influenza strains 21–28 days after two vaccinations with non‐adjuvanted or adjuvanted vaccine in groups of healthy adults in three clinical trials. Adapted from data in Ref. 44, 47, 55.