Vaccine sector on edge as HHS cancels flu meeting

An FDA advisory committee due to be held in March to discuss the formulation of influenza vaccines for the 2025/26 flu season has been cancelled, according to US reports.

The meeting of the Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee (VRBPAC) was scheduled for 13th March and was due to look at the strains of flu virus that should be included in seasonal vaccines later this year, but - according to some panel members - has been cancelled without explanation.

Manufacturers need to decide on the strains early on in the year because the manufacturing processes for flu vaccines – particularly those still made in chicken eggs – can take months.

The development has added to the nervousness about the integrity of immunisation programmes under new Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr – a notorious vaccine sceptic – who just a few days ago also postponed a meeting of the CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunisation Practices (ACIP) that had been due to start yesterday. At the moment, it is not clear whether that will be rescheduled.

Kennedy has also been ordered by President Trump to lead a commission to investigate "threats" to children's health in the US that has medication and vaccines in its scope, and the moves have raised fears that Kennedy is already backtracking on commitments made during his nomination hearings not to disrupt vaccinations.

VRBPAC panellist Dr Paul Offit told CNBC there was no indication of who was responsible for the cancellation and whether the meeting will be rescheduled, and questioned whether in the absence of FDA advice manufacturers will now use World Health Organization (WHO) recommendations on strain selection.

President Trump signalled in the first week of his new term in office that he intends for the US to withdraw from the WHO.

"I don't understand. We're all just sort of left in the dark," said Offit. Meanwhile, another advisor – Dr Stanley Perlman – told Reuters that a separate meeting of a subcommittee planned for later in March had also been cancelled.

It's not clear whether the meetings have been postponed due to the disruption at the FDA and other HHS agencies caused by the mass layoffs demanded by the Trump administration and being implemented by Elon Musk's department of government efficiency (DOGE).

Earlier this week, there were reports that the FDA was rehiring staff axed from the medical devices and food safety divisions during that process, and also workers involved in artificial intelligence and digital health regulation, because their ability to operate had been compromised.

Another rumour circulating this week is that Trump wants to re-negotiate or potentially abandon a $590 million agreement with Moderna, signed in January, to fund the development of a bird flu vaccine.

There have been 70 cases of H5N1 bird flu in humans in the US since the latest outbreak in poultry and cattle started in March 2024, and recent cases seem to be causing more severe symptoms, with at least four hospitalisations and the first patient death in the US.