MedImmune's FluMist vaccine wins FDA approval
Nasal spray flu vaccine has been re-engineered to permit refrigerated storage; previously approved product required freezing, but this made it hard for pharmacies and schools to keep in stock; roll-out expected in August for 2007-08 flu season
Do not turn up your nose at this product from Gaithersburg, Maryland-based MedImmune. The company’s nasal spray flu vaccine — recently reformulated so that it can be stored by refrigeration and not only by freezing — has won federal approval. The Food and Drug Administration originally approved FluMist in 2003, but long-term storage remained a problem. (Keeping stockpiles handy is critical because an epidemic would swiftly swamp suppliers.) Now that FluMist can be stored in refrigerators, it should see expanded use in schools, and it may also see a growth in the consumer market as well in pharmacies and drug stores.
The newly approved formulation of FluMist, known in clinical studies as CAIV-T (cold adapted influenza vaccine-trivalent), will be available for the 2007-2008 influenza season beginning in August.
-read more in this company news release
