Trump administration's universal flu vaccine project puzzles scientists

A cosmopolitan vaccine against flu wouldn't person to beryllium updated to lucifer seasonal changes successful circulating strains. Science Photo Library/Getty Images hide caption

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Vaccine experts are perplexed by a task the Trump medication has launched to make a cosmopolitan flu vaccine, which has agelong been a goal, though an elusive one, successful aesculapian research.

Dubbed Generation Gold Standard, the task is aimed astatine creating a flu changeable that doesn't person to beryllium updated each twelvemonth to lucifer the latest strains of the virus. The task besides aims to nutrient a vaccine that could support radical against different respiratory viruses that could origin a pandemic, specified arsenic vertebrate flu and coronaviruses.

"Generation Gold Standard is simply a paradigm shift," said National Institutes of Heath Director Jay Bhattacharya successful a statement announcing the project. "It extends vaccine extortion beyond strain-specific limits and prepares for flu viral threats — not conscionable today's, but tomorrow's arsenic good — utilizing accepted vaccine exertion brought into the 21st century."

The announcement amazed vaccine researchers, fixed the anti-vaccine stance of wellness officials similar Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

"I'm gladsome to spot that this medication is inactive wanting to put successful processing next-generation influenza vaccines oregon respiratory vaccines successful general," says Ted Ross, manager of Global Vaccine Development astatine the Cleveland Clinic.

An aged vaccine exertion backmost successful the spotlight

But Ross and different extracurricular vaccine experts are mystified by galore aspects of Generation Gold Standard.

First of all, the task plans to usage an attack that would impact injecting radical with a full flu microorganism that has been killed with a chemic to render it harmless but is inactive susceptible of stimulating the immune system. Most vaccine experts see the full killed microorganism attack to beryllium antiquated.

"This a head-scratcher to me. This is puzzling," says Dr. Gregory Poland, a vaccine adept who leads the Atria Academy of Science and Medicine successful New York.

"We're going backmost to exertion that was utilized 40, 50 years agone oregon more. So this is simply a small astonishing to maine wherefore you would spell backwards to this technology? It's a precise aged technology," Poland says. "This is what influenza vaccines successful the 40s, 50s and 60s looked like."

Whole dormant microorganism vaccines thin to nutrient much broadside effects, including precocious fevers and seizures that particularly tin frighten parents, Poland, Ross and others say. Newer, much precocious technologies are showing much committedness with less broadside effects, they say.

"We person unrecorded attenuated nasal spray influenza vaccines. We person recombinant influenza vaccines. We person an mRNA-based influenza vaccine," Poland says. "So wherefore would you enactment each your eggs successful 1 basket?"

A pricey stake connected a azygous approach

And past there's the terms tag: $500 million, which is simply a immense amount, particularly astatine a clip erstwhile national wellness probe backing is being slashed. The wealth that was primitively earmarked to assistance research a assortment of technologies for next-generation COVID-19 vaccines.

"This magnitude of wealth is astronomical. It is foolish to enactment that overmuch wealth onto 1 technology," says Rick Bright, a erstwhile national vaccine adept who is present a backstage consultant. "What we request present is bold 21st period solutions, not a retreat into nostalgia."

Another facet that's raising eyebrows is the information that the exertion — called a "beta-propiolactone (BPL)-inactivated, whole-virus platform" — was developed by 2 NIH scientists — Dr. Matthew Memoli and Dr. Jeffery Tautenberger.

Memoli was precocious named arsenic the main lawman manager of the NIH aft serving arsenic Trump's acting NIH director. Tautenberger was precocious named acting manager of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. Tautenberger holds a patent connected the technology. In addition, the strategy was picked without independent, nationalist reappraisal and based connected lone very limited preliminary testing.

"So that's odd," says Dr. Jesse Goodman, a erstwhile Food and Drug Administration vaccine adept who's present astatine Georgetown University. "If you're going to bash this, person an unfastened technological contention for the champion ideas. There should beryllium transparency for the process of however to allot funding."

The Department of Health and Human Services confirmed the outgo of the task and answered a question astir the 2 vaccine candidates being explored, but didn't reply further questions from NPR astir the project, including wherefore officials picked this attack and however the effort was vetted.

But successful announcing it, the medication said a cosmopolitan flu vaccine should beryllium acceptable for widescale investigating adjacent twelvemonth and could beryllium disposable to the nationalist wrong 4 years, which is simply a precise ambitious timeline.

"The BPL level is afloat government-owned and NIH-developed," the announcement says. "This attack ensures extremist transparency, nationalist accountability, and state from commercialized conflicts of interest."