The US Department of Health and Human Services on Tuesday announced that a 35-million-dollar contract has been awarded to a US company that is developing a flu vaccine using insect cell technology.
“The technology has advanced in recent years to a point that we believe it could help meet a surge in demand for US-based vaccine for seasonal and pandemic flu,” Health Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said in a statement.
The A(H1N1) virus, or swine flu, which emerged in Mexico in April, has been declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization and has killed 231 people worldwide and infected more than 52,000 people in 100 countries.
