Potency testing of bacterial vaccines for human use

The potency tests for bacterial vaccines are quite diverse. For some products (pertussis, cholera, anthrax, typhoid and BCG vaccines) these are specified as Additional Standards in the Code of Federal Regulations. For other products (tetanus and diphtheria toxoids, plague vaccine) the testing is done according to so-called Minimum Requirements, which have less regulatory authority than Additional Standards. Still other products (e.g., polysaccharide conjugate vaccines, acellular pertussis vaccine, live oral typhoid) are tested according to individualized criteria that are contained in their specific Product License Applications. For some products there is inadequate knowledge of the pathogenic mechanisms and/or protective factors to design valid in vitro potency tests. In these cases, animal testing with subsequent serologic evaluation or challenge testing is often necessary. Examples would include vaccines such as cholera and plague vaccines. The FDA supports the elimination of animal testing when suitable alternatives are available. Thus, many of the potency tests, especially for newer products, rely on in vitro characterization. For example, the immunogenicity of conventional polysaccharide vaccines is largely proportional to their molecular weight. Potency testing therefore relies heavily on physical characterization in terms of composition, molecular weight, and quantity.