WSJ: CDC sets stage for a four-strain flu shot for the next flu season

NEW YORK — The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention last week set the stage for the first quadrivalent influenza vaccine to be introduced in the 2013-2014 flu season, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal. 

Quadrivalent vaccines will contain two A strains and two B strains of flu. The triumvirate vaccines in use today contain two A strains and one B strain of flu. 

The Food and Drug Administration in December approved a new four-strain flu vaccine made by GlaxoSmithKline called Fluarix Quadrivalent. And FluMist Quadrivalent, from Astra Zeneca’s MedImmune division, was approved in February 2012. 

Sanofi has an application pending with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for a four-strain vaccine, The Wall Street Journal noted. However, that approval may not come in time for Sanofi to field a four-strain flu shot for the upcoming season, the report noted. 

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