Novartis announces agreement to develop influenza vaccines using revolutionary "synthetic genomics" technology

Novartis announces agreement to develop influenza vaccines using revolutionary "synthetic genomics" technology . Collaboration with Synthetic Genomics Vaccines Inc. combines synthetic biology and genome sequencing capabilities with leading edge vaccine technology New technology aims to create more flexible processes to generate influenza seed viruses, with the aim to speed up influenza vaccine production Development of library of fully synthetic flu virus strains and ability to rapidly generate new strains could speed response to seasonal and pandemic flu outbreaks Basel, October 7, 2010 - Novartis announced today an agreement with Synthetic Genomics Vaccines Inc. (SGVI) to apply "synthetic genomics" technologies to accelerate the production of the influenza seed strains required for vaccine manufacturing. The seed strain is the starter culture of a virus, and is the base from which larger quantities of the vaccine virus can be grown. The three-year agreement, supported by an award from the U.S. Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), could ultimately lead to a more effective response to seasonal and pandemic flu outbreaks. Currently Novartis and other vaccines companies rely on the WHO to identify and distribute live reference viruses to create seasonal or pandemic vaccines.