Sanofi – Making Vaccines

Summary

Vaccines are meticulously crafted to help prevent life-threatening diseases like meningitis, flu, and polio. The production process involves growing viruses or bacteria, purifying them, inactivating them to prevent disease, and combining them into effective vaccine doses. Each vaccine undergoes rigorous testing and quality controls, ensuring it remains potent and safe for distribution. Sanofi ensures the reliability of their vaccines through strict production and storage protocols, taking up to 36 months to perfect certain vaccines. With over a century of experience, Sanofi is dedicated to safeguarding global health through innovative vaccine development.

Takeaways

• 😀 Vaccines are essential for preventing life-threatening infectious diseases such as meningitis, pertussis, flu, and polio.
• 😀 The vaccine production process starts by growing viruses or bacteria in a lab, where temperature, pH, oxygen rate, and sterility are closely controlled.
• 😀 Cell cultures for vaccines can take anywhere from two days to three months to produce millions of doses, depending on the vaccine.
• 😀 Purification of microorganisms removes culture media, ensuring that only the virus or bacteria remain for further processing.
• 😀 Inactivation of the virus or bacteria disarms them while maintaining their ability to stimulate an immune response in the body.
• 😀 A vaccine can contain one or several 'valences', which are distinct viral or bacterial components designed to protect against multiple diseases.
• 😀 Stabilizers and preservatives are added in small amounts to ensure the vaccine remains effective throughout its shelf life.
• 😀 Some vaccines are freeze-dried to maintain stability, especially for outbreak-prone diseases like yellow fever.
• 😀 After production, vaccines are visually inspected and undergo rigorous testing, including hundreds of lab tests and further testing by public health authorities.
• 😀 Vaccines are stored at 2 to 8 degrees Celsius during production, packaging, and shipping, with temperature-controlled solutions used throughout transportation.
• 😀 Sanofi's vaccine production is done in sterile conditions, with more than 70% of production time dedicated to quality control, including up to 1200 tests for each batch.

Q & A

What is the primary function of vaccines in preventing diseases?

Vaccines help prevent life-threatening infectious diseases by preparing the immune system to better combat infections and prevent disease.

How are viruses or bacteria grown in the laboratory during vaccine production?

Viruses or bacteria are grown in lab cultures, where parameters like temperature, pH, oxygen rate, sterility, and homogeneity are carefully controlled to ensure optimal growth.

What is the process of 'purification' in vaccine production?

Purification involves extracting microorganisms from their environment and removing any trace of culture media to ensure the vaccine is free from contaminants.

What does it mean to 'inactivate' a virus or bacteria in the production of vaccines?

Inactivation refers to the process of eliminating the ability of the virus or bacteria to cause disease while retaining its ability to stimulate an immune response.

What are valences in the context of vaccines?

Valences are inactivated viruses or bacteria included in a vaccine. A vaccine may have one or several valences to protect against multiple diseases in a single shot.

Why are stabilizers and preservatives added to vaccines?

Stabilizers and preservatives are added in small amounts to maintain the vaccine’s stability, potency, and effectiveness over time.

What role do adjuvants play in vaccines?

Adjuvants are substances added to vaccines to enhance the body’s immune response, helping to increase the effectiveness of the vaccine.

Why are some vaccines freeze-dried and how does this help preserve their efficacy?

Certain vaccines are freeze-dried into a powder to preserve their efficacy, especially for outbreak-prone diseases like yellow fever, ensuring a long shelf life and availability for emergencies.

How are vaccines reconstituted before administration?

Freeze-dried vaccines are reconstituted by mixing the powder with a diluent before being filled into vials or syringes for administration.

What types of quality control measures are implemented during vaccine production?

Quality control measures include visual and digital inspections, laboratory tests on each batch, and sample testing by public health authorities. If a batch doesn’t meet quality standards, it is destroyed.