Technology transfer hub for pandemic influenza vaccine

Increase of influenza vaccine production capacity in developing countries has been identified as an important element of global pandemic preparedness. Nevertheless, technology transfer for influenza vaccine production to developing country vaccine manufacturers has proven difficult because of lack of interested technology providers. As an alternative to an individual provider-recipient relationship, a technology and training platform (a "hub") for a generic non-proprietary process was established at a public sector European manufacturer's site. The conditions for setting up such a platform and the potential applicability of this model to other biologicals are discussed.