FDA meeting on flu vaccine composition is canceled

A meeting of Food and Drug Administration advisers to determine the composition of flu vaccines for the upcoming season has been canceled, a member of the committee confirmed to BioPharma Dive.

Paul Offit, a vaccine expert and professor of pediatrics at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, said committee members are concerned by the cancellation, which he said was done without any effort to reschedule. No reason was given, according to Offit.

The meeting, which was tentatively slated for mid-March, is the second gathering of federal vaccine advisers to be disrupted since Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who has often criticized public vaccination policies, was sworn in as Health and Human Services Secretary.

Last week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s vaccine advisory committee meeting was postponed, ostensibly to allow extra time for public comment. Reports have indicated that Kennedy is considering whether to remove members of the vaccine panels.

“At a time when vaccine confidence and access are critically important, disruptions to the advisory process can have far-reaching consequences for public health,” Robert Hopkins, a medical director of the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases, wrote in an email to BioPharma Dive about the CDC meeting delay.

During confirmation hearings, Kennedy pledged to “work within” existing vaccine approval and safety frameworks. But the HHS Secretary has a history of promoting anti-vaccine rhetoric, including questioning the safety and efficacy of vaccines. He previously founded and chaired Children’s Health Defense, an organization that has claimed certain vaccines are linked to autism, despite many studies showing otherwise.

This particular FDA committee meeting occurs annually to advise the agency on which influenza strains should be targeted in vaccines prepared ahead of the usual flu season in the fall and winter. It’s typically held every March to review recommendations that come out of an annual committee meeting held by the World Health Organization.

An HHS spokesperson told BioPharma Dive in an email that the FDA would make public its recommendations to vaccine manufacturers in time for their preparations ahead of the 2025-26 flu season.

The WHO is meeting this week to discuss which influenza strains to target for the next 2025-26 flu season in the Northern Hemisphere. On Monday, STAT reported officials from the FDA and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will attend virtually, despite an executive order from President Donald Trump to withdraw the U.S. from the WHO.

Editor’s note: This story has been updated to include comments received after publication.

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