The NIH announced today that a “universal” flu shot (BPL-1357) is beginning clinical trials in Maryland. The development on the experimental flu shot was done by researchers at the NIAID with the goal of producing a formulation resulting in a broad immune response with high levels of efficacy across many influenza variants. Here’s a link to the NIH press release.

An initial review of the development work does not reveal use of aborted fetal tissue or cell lines. Animal models were used to measure immune response and toxicity and MDCK cell lines (canine) were used as the viral growth medium. The pre-print paper may be reviewed, here.

A more thorough review is under way and this post may be updated based on the findings of this review.