Skip to main content

HHS, NIH Unveil Vaccine Initiative to Protect Against Future Pandemics

Medically reviewed by Carmen Pope, BPharm. Last updated on May 4, 2025.

By Stephanie Brown HealthDay Reporter

FRIDAY, May 2, 2025 -- The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the National Institutes of Health announced a new initiative called "Generation Gold Standard" to develop next-generation, universal vaccines using a beta-propiolactone (BPL)-inactivated, whole-virus platform.

According to a press release issued by the NIH, the initiative will fund the institute's in-house development of universal influenza and coronavirus vaccines, including candidates BPL-1357 and BPL-24910. The goal of these vaccines is to provide broad-spectrum protection against multiple strains of pandemic-prone viruses such as bird flu and various coronaviruses.

The NIH states: "Unlike traditional vaccines that target specific strains, BPL-inactivated whole-virus vaccines preserve the virus's structural integrity while eliminating infectivity. This approach induces robust B and T cell immune responses and offers long-lasting protection across diverse viral families. Moreover, the intranasal formulation of BPL-1357 is currently in Phase Ib and II/III trials and is designed to block virus transmission -- an innovation absent from current flu and COVID-19 vaccines."

The BPL platform is fully government-owned and free from commercial conflicts of interest, the NIH notes. The platform is also adaptable for future use against respiratory syncytial virus, metapneumovirus, and parainfluenza.

Clinical trials for universal influenza vaccines are scheduled to begin in 2026, with U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval anticipated in 2029. The intranasal BPL-1357 flu vaccine is currently in advanced trials, with FDA review expected by 2029.

CBS News reports that the HHS has transferred $500 million to the Generation Gold Standard initiative. The money was earmarked for research into next-generation COVID-19 vaccines. This decision appears to have bypassed the standard review processes typically managed by career scientists at the NIH and Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority; these processes are intended to help guarantee that federal funding goes to projects with the strongest scientific value.

Jeffery Taubenberger, M.D., Ph.D., the current acting head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, which has exclusively developed Generation Gold Standard, holds a patent for the BPL vaccine platform.

More Information

Disclaimer: Statistical data in medical articles provide general trends and do not pertain to individuals. Individual factors can vary greatly. Always seek personalized medical advice for individual healthcare decisions.

© 2025 HealthDay. All rights reserved.

Posted May 2025

Further Support and Information on COVID-19

Read this next

Blackouts Boost Carbon Monoxide Poisoning Risk Among Young Kids

MONDAY, May 5, 2025 — Power outages greatly increase a young child’s chances of carbon monoxide poisoning due to improper use of gasoline-powered generators, a new...

OpenAI Releases HealthBench Dataset to Test AI in Health Care

TUESDAY, May 13, 2025 — OpenAI has unveiled a large dataset to help test how well artificial intelligence (AI) models answer health care questions.  Experts call it a...

Fresh & Ready Foods Recalls Products After Listeria Outbreak

TUESDAY, May 13, 2025 — At least 10 people in the U.S. were hospitalized with listeria infections linked to ready-to-eat foods, federal officials said. The U.S. Food and...

More news resources

Subscribe to our newsletter

Whatever your topic of interest, subscribe to our newsletters to get the best of Drugs.com in your inbox.