Improving pandemic preparedness through better, faster influenza vaccines.

Introduction. Timely availability of effective influenza vaccine will be critical to mitigate the next influenza pandemic. The mission of Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) is to develop medical countermeasures against pandemics, including influenza and other health security threats.Areas covered. Despite considerable gains in pandemic vaccine preparedness since 2009, old and new challenges threaten the pandemic influenza response capabilities of the U.S. Government: insufficient U.S.-based vaccine production, two-dose vaccination regimen, logistically complex adjuvanted formulation, and sustained surge manufacturing capacity despite no commercial market for pandemic vaccines. Although the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has re-exposed these gaps in preparedness and response, previous investments into flexible influenza vaccine technologies proved to be critical to accelerate COVID-19 vaccine development.Expert opinion. BARDA addresses these challenges by implementing a pandemic influenza vaccine strategy with two key goals: 1) accelerating vaccine development and production (faster) and 2) improving vaccine performance (better). This strategy involves an end-to-end approach, including increasing manufacturing and fill-finish capacity; improving release testing speed; and funding clinical trials to improve current vaccine utilization. As demonstrated by the COVID-19 response, continued investments into this pandemic influenza vaccine strategy will further enhance the ability to respond to future emerging pandemic pathogens.

Tracking progress in universal influenza vaccine development.

Conventional influenza vaccines are designed to stimulate neutralizing antibodies against immunodominant but highly variable hemagglutinin antigens. Inherent limitations include suboptimal protection against rapidly changing seasonal influenza viruses and a lack of protection against antigenically novel pandemic influenza. New technologies for developing influenza vaccines that induce more broadly protective and durable immunity are a growing area of research and focus on a variety of approaches, including targeting conserved antigens and stimulating cross-reactive T cell responses. This review highlights a new effort to track the development of universal influenza vaccine technologies. The Universal Influenza Vaccine Technology Landscape is intended to provide stakeholders and funders with a common source of information to monitor research progress and identify opportunities for informed investments and collaboration.