Overview

• The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services unveiled the $500 million Generation Gold Standard program to develop universal vaccines for influenza and coronaviruses.
• The initiative will use chemically inactivated whole-virus technology, marking a departure from mRNA-based approaches used during the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Clinical trials for the universal flu vaccine are expected to begin in 2026, with FDA approval targeted for 2029 if successful.
• Funded through the Biden administration's Project NextGen, the program centralizes vaccine development entirely within the NIH for the first time, bypassing external grant allocations.
• HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has mandated that all vaccines developed under the program undergo rigorous placebo-controlled trials to ensure safety and efficacy.