Baxter International has received approval for seasonal influenza vaccine Preflucel from the Austrian Agency for Health and Food Safety.
The vaccine, which uses advanced vero-cell technology, has been shown to be effective in preventing seasonal influenza and is indicated for prophylaxis of influenza in adults and the elderly.
Vero-cell technology uses viruses identical in protein composition to ones circulating in nature, instead of genetically modified virus strains.
Prefucel contains antigens from the three distinct viral strains selected by the World Health Organization (WHO) to cover the northern hemisphere’s influenza season, which lasts from October to May.
Baxter expects to submit the vaccine for approval in additional countries in Europe in 2010 through a mutual recognition procedure, which speeds up approval after marketing authorisation has been granted in one country.
