prepandemic influenza vaccine (h5n1) (whole virion, inactivated, prepared in cell culture)

The prepandemic influenza vaccine (H5N1) (whole virion, inactivated, prepared in cell culture), marketed as Vepacel (and previously developed under the mock-up name Celvapan), is a non-adjuvanted, inactivated whole-virion vaccine designed for active immunization against the H5N1 subtype of influenza A virus. Developed by Baxter Innovations GmbH (a subsidiary of Baxter International) and later held by Ology Bioservices (acquired by National Resilience), the vaccine is produced by propagating wild-type H5N1 influenza virus (specifically strain A/Vietnam/1203/2004, clade 1) in a continuous Vero (African green monkey kidney) cell culture system, bypassing traditional egg-based manufacturing. It works by eliciting neutralizing antibody and T-cell responses against the viral hemagglutinin (HA) and neuraminidase (NA) antigens. Vepacel received EU marketing authorization in February 2012 for adults aged 18 and older, which was later extended to children and infants from 6 months of age. The marketing authorization was withdrawn in September 2020 at the request of the holder for commercial reasons.

Brand names

VepacelCelvapan

Other names

Vero cell-derived whole-virus H5N1 influenza vaccineprepandemic influenza vaccine (H5N1)Pandemic Influenza Vaccine H5N1 Baxter