Universal Flu Vaccine Now in Human Trials

A universal flu vaccine produced by Flemish scientists is being tested for the first time on humans.

The vaccine, produced by researchers at the Flanders Institute for Biotechnology and Ghent University in Belgium, is in Phase I trials being conducted by the British-American biotech company Acambis. The vaccine is intended to provide protection against all A strains of the flu virus, including pandemic strains.

Today’s flu vaccines need to be reconstituted and administered every year since the external structure of the flu virus mutates regularly, scientists said. A universal flu vaccine would replace the annual flu vaccines and provide broad and lifelong protection, such as do vaccines for polio, hepatitis B or measles.

Phase I trials verify the safety of a drug and provide an initial insight into its effect on the human immune system. The researchers said their goal for the new universal vaccine is that two inoculations would suffice to protect people against all A strains of flu.