FDA has approved two new flu vaccines that, instead of using eggs to grow the influenza virus, use cell lines from either a mammal or insects. FDA indicates in a consumer update that the agency, and its parent, the US Department of Health and Human Services, have long encouraged the development of new technologies for producing flu vaccines. For example, cell culture technology is used to make vaccines to prevent other infectious diseases, and FDA has been working for a number of years, both on the research and regulatory fronts, to facilitate this for flu vaccines. A major push for cell-based flu vaccines occurred in 2006 as part of a plan to be ready in case of a worldwide epidemic. In 2010, FDA issued final guidance to assist manufacturers working to develop safe and effective viral vaccines that grow in specially prepared cell lines, and, in the last two months, FDA has approved the two new flu vaccines. Jerry P. Weir, PhD, director of the Division of Viral Products in FDA's Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research explained that this important advance will supplement current egg-based vaccines. "The more manufacturing alternatives there are available, the better we can respond to public health emergencies in a timely manner," states Weir. More information about the making of both egg-based vaccines and the new flu vaccines is available in the FDA article “The Evolution, and Revolution, of Flu Vaccines.”