WHO Technical Report Series

932

WHO EXPERT COMMITTEE

WHO EXPERT COMMITTEE ON BIOLOGICAL STANDARDIZATION

This report presents the recommendations of a WHO Expert
Committee commissioned to coordinate activities leading to the
adoption of international recommendations for the production
ON BIOLOGICAL
and control of vaccines and other biologicals and the
establishment of international biological reference materials.
STANDARDIZATION
The report starts with a discussion of general issues brought
to the attention of the Committee and provides information on
the status and development of reference materials for various
antibodies, antigens, blood products and related substances,
cytokines, growth factors, and endocrinological substances.
The second part of the report, of particular relevance to
manufacturers and national regulatory authorities, contains
guidelines on the production and quality control of candidate
tetravalent dengue virus vaccines and recommendations for the Fifty-fifth report
preparation, characterization and establishment of international
and other biological reference standards. Also included are a list
of recommendations, guidelines and other documents for
biological substances used in medicine, and of international
standards and reference reagent for biological substances.

WHO Technical Report Series — 932

ISBN 92 4 120932 1

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WHO Technical Report Series

932

WHO EXPERT COMMITTEE

ON BIOLOGICAL
STANDARDIZATION

Fifty-fifth Report

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 WHO Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data

WHO Expert Committee on Biological Standardization (2004 : Geneva, Switzerland)

WHO Expert Committee on Biological Standardization : fifty-fifth report.

(WHO technical report series ; 932)

1.Biological products - standards 2.Immunologic factors - standards 3.Blood

4.Reagent kits, Diagnostic - standards 5.Reference standards 5.Guidelines I.Title
II.Series

ISBN 92 4 120932 1 (LC/NLM classification: QW 800)

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 Contents

Introduction 1

General 2
Developments in biological standardization: WHO programmatic
issues 2
Developments in biological standardization: vaccines and other
biologicals 4
Developments in biological standardization: blood products and
related in vitro diagnostics 6
Developments in biological standardization: advancement of technical
expertise of regulatory authorities in the area of blood products and
in vitro diagnostics 7
Developments in biological standardization: new web site for
dissemination of information from Quality Assurance and Safety of
Plasma Derivatives and Related Substances 8
Developments in biological standardization: reports from the WHO
International Laboratories 9
Feedback from users: issues highlighted by the WHO Global Training
Network and by the WHO prequalification process for vaccines 11

International guidelines, recommendations and other matters related to

the manufacture and quality control of biologicals 12
Guidelines for production and quality control of candidate tetravalent
dengue virus vaccine (live) 12
Recommendations for the preparation, characterization and
establishment of international and other biological reference
standards 14
Recommendations for the production and control of rabies vaccines
— proposed revision 15
Recommendations for the production and quality control of diphtheria,
pertussis and tetanus vaccines — proposed revision 18
Guidelines for the safe production of poliomyelitis vaccines from
attenuated Sabin strains — proposal 19
Recommendations, guidelines and other documents for biological
substances used in medicine: review of the consolidated list 20
Quality, safety and efficacy of antivenom sera 22
Good manufacturing practices for blood establishments: progress
report on training activities 23

International Reference Materials 24

Comparison of glass ampoules versus rubber-stoppered vials for the
storage of international biological standards 24
Priorities for replacement and new international biological reference
standards for biologicals 25
Proposed disestablishment of the International Reference Reagent for
hepatitis B vaccine 27 E

iii

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 Antigens and related substances 27
Smallpox vaccines — progress report on proposed second
International Standard 27
Yellow fever vaccine — outcome of an enquiry regarding the use of
the first International Standard 29
Poliomyelitis vaccine, oral — second International Standard 30
Diphtheria toxin: proposed new use for an International Standard 31
Pertussis vaccine, whole cell — progress report on proposed fourth
International Standard 33
Anti-pertussis typing-sera: WHO reference reagents for serotypes
2 and 3 33

Blood products and related substances 35

Anti-A and anti-B blood typing serum: proposed reference reagents 35
Anti-D blood typing serum: first International Standard for minimum
potency of blood grouping reagents 36
Factor V Leiden, first International Genetic Reference Panel 37
Blood coagulation factor XIII, plasma: first International Standard 38
Immunoglobulin, intravenous: WHO reference reagents for anti-D
content 39

Cytokines, growth factors and endocrinological substances 40

Progress report on follow-up from the seventh WHO Consultation on
cytokines, growth factors and endocrinological substances 40

Diagnostic reagents 41
Global measurement standards for in vitro diagnostic devices:
principles and priorities 41
Diagnostic tests for anti-hepatitis C virus: proposal for a reference
standard and preliminary results 42

Annex 1
Guidelines for the production and quality control of candidate tetravalent
dengue virus vaccines (live) 44

Annex 2
Recommendations for the preparation, characterization and establishment
of international and other biological reference standards (revised 2004) 73

Annex 3
Recommendations, guidelines and other documents for biological
substances used in medicine 132

Annex 4
Biological substances: International Standards and Reference Reagents 136

iv

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 WHO Expert Committee on Biological Standardization
Geneva, 15–18 November 2004

Members
Professor W.G. van Aken, Amstelveen, the Netherlands
Dr R. Dobbelaer, Head, Biological Standardization, Louis Pasteur Scientific Insti-
tute of Public Health, Brussels, Belgium (Chairman)
Dr F. Fuchs, Director — Lyon Site, Agence Française de Sécurité Sanitaire de
Produits de Santé (AFSSAPS), Direction des Laboratoires et des Contrôles
Médicaments Immunologiques et Produits thérapeutiques, Lyon, France
Dr B. Kaligis, Quality Assurance Manager, Bio Farma, Bandung, Indonesia
Dr T. Kurata, Director General, National Institute of Infectious Diseases, Tokyo,
Japan (Vice-Chairman)
Dr N.V. Medunitsin, Director, Tarasevic State Institute for the Standardization and
Control of Medical Biological Preparations, Moscow, Russian Federation
Dr P. Minor, Head, Division of Virology, National Institute for Biological Standards
and Control, Potters Bar, Herts., England
Professor F. Ofosu, Department of Pathology and Molecular Medicine, McMaster
University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
Dr F. Reigel, Head, Swissmedic, Biological Medicines & Laboratories, Agency for
Therapeutic Products, Berne, Switzerland (Rapporteur)

Representatives of other organizations

Council of Europe, European Directorate for the Quality of Medicines
Mr J-M. Spieser, European Pharmacopoeia Commission, Strasbourg, France
Developing Country Vaccine Manufacturer’s Network
Dr S. Jadhav, Executive Director, Quality Assurance and Regulatory Affairs, Serum
Institute of India Ltd, Pune, India
International Federation of Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine
Professor J. Thijssen, University Hospital Utrecht, Utrecht, the Netherlands
International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Associations
Dr M. Duchêne, Director, Quality Control, GlaxoSmithKline Biologicals, Rixensart,
Belgium
Dr A. Sabouraud, Director, Quality Control of Development Products, Aventis
Pasteur S.A., Marcy l’Etoile, France
International Organization for Standardization
Mr T.J. Hancox, Technical Programme Manager, Standards Department, ISO,
Geneva, Switzerland
International Society on Thrombosis and Haemostasis
Professor I. Peake, Deputy Director, Division of Genomic Medicine, University of
Sheffield, Royal Hallamshire Hospital, Sheffield, England
United States Pharmacopeia
Dr T. Morris, United States Pharmacopeia, Rockville, MD, USA

Secretariat
Dr D. Armstrong, Executive Director, Natal Bioproducts Institute, Pinetown, South
Africa (Temporary Adviser) E

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 Dr T. Barrowcliffe, National Institute for Biological Standards and Control, Potters
Bar, Herts., England (Temporary Adviser)
Dr A. Bristow, National Institute for Biological Standards and Control, Potters Bar,
Herts., England (Temporary Adviser)
Dr D. Calam, Pewsey, Wiltshire, England (Temporary Adviser)
Dr A.M. Cheraghali, Director General, Iran Drug Selection Committee, Ministry of
Health and Medical Education, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran (Temporary
Adviser)
Dr M. Corbel, Division of Bacteriology, National Institute for Biological Standards
and Control, Potters Bar, Herts., England (Temporary Adviser)
Dr R.H. Decker, Hepatitis and AIDS Research, Deerfield, Illinois, USA (Temporary
Adviser)
Dr K. Eckels, Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, Department of Biologics
Research, Washington, DC, USA (Temporary Adviser)
Dr W. Egan, Deputy Director, Office of Vaccines, Center for Biologics Evaluation
and Research, Food and Drug Administration, Rockville, MD, USA (Temporary
Adviser)
Dr R. Gaines-Das, National Institute for Biological Standards and Control, Potters
Bar, Herts., England (Temporary Adviser)
Dr E. Griffiths, Associate Director General, Biologics and Genetic Therapies Direc-
torate, Health Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada (Temporary Adviser)
Dr S. Inglis, Director, National Institute for Biological Standards and Control,
Potters Bar, Herts., England (Temporary Adviser)
Mrs T. Jivapaisarnpong, Director, Division of Biological Products, Department of
Medical Sciences, Ministry of Public Health, Nonthaburi, Thailand (Temporary
Adviser)
Dr N. Lelie, Sanquin-CLB, Alkmaar, the Netherlands (Temporary Adviser)
Dr J. Löwer, Director, Paul Ehrlich Institute, Langen, Germany (Temporary Adviser)
Dr J. Saldaña, Canadian Blood Services, Ottawa, Canada (Temporary Adviser)
Dr M. Weinstein, Associate Deputy Director, Office of Blood Research and Review,
Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, Food and Drug Administration,
Rockville, MD, USA (Temporary Adviser)
Dr D. Wood, Coordinator, Quality Assurance and Safety of Biologicals, World
Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland (Secretary)
Professor Hongzhang Yin, Division of Biological Products, State of Food and Drug
Administration, Beijing, People’s Republic of China (Temporary Adviser)
Dr K. Zoon, Deputy Director for Planning and Development, Division of Intramural
Research, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases/National Insti-
tutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA (Temporary Adviser)

vi

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 Introduction
The WHO Expert Committee on Biological Standardization met in
Geneva from 15 to 18 November 2004. The meeting was opened
on behalf of the Director-General by Mrs J. Phumaphi, Assistant
Director-General.
Mrs Phumaphi emphasized the importance of the work of the
Committee in preparing recommendations to assure safe and
efficacious biological products and in establishing standard prepara-
tions important for global health. Fully functional national regulatory
authorities that refer to WHO recommendations, norms and stan-
dards are essential to protect patients and improve global public
health. She recalled that the Expert Committee on Biological Stan-
dardization, which had started its work as early as 1947, was one of the
longest-standing WHO Committees. The Committee has been faced
with the challenge of technological advancements while maintaining
the highest possible standards for the quality, safety and efficacy of
vaccines, biological therapeutics, blood products and selected in vitro
diagnostic devices. The wide range of WHO biological reference
standards improves the comparability of data in diverse fields of
medical practice. Mrs Phumaphi encouraged the members to actively
engage in the biological standardization work needed in their respec-
tive countries. The expertise and the experience of the participants
represent an important resource that would be crucial to countries, for
example in ensuring their preparedness to react to the threat of avian
flu where expert guidance would facilitate the rapid availability of new
vaccines as needed. She reminded the Committee of the immense
contribution it had made recently, such as in the case of diagnosis of
hepatitis B, which is still a threatening disease in parts of the world;
some 2 billion people have been infected globally and, of these, about
360 million are believed to be chronically infected. The availability of
new international reference materials for hepatitis B is a critical step in
the development of appropriate standards needed for countries that
lack direct access to ready-to-use reagents to evaluate diagnostics. Mrs
Phumaphi emphasized the importance of promoting good manufac-
turing practices (GMP) for blood and blood products and pointed out
that the implementation of GMP represents a very effective tool for
assuring the safety and quality of all biological products.
Mrs Phumaphi underlined the continued rapid developments in the
field of biologicals represented by a proposal at this meeting to estab-
lish the first international standard for a human genetic test. The
application of molecular genomics to medical problems presents great
opportunities but also considerable challenges. E

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 Mrs Phumaphi reminded the members of the Committee that they did
not represent organizations or governments, but had been invited by
WHO because of their individual expertise. She invited all the partici-
pants to contribute actively in their respective capacities. Finally she
reminded the Committee that all decisions made should be based on
sound scientific principles.

General
Developments in biological standardization:
WHO programmatic issues
The Committee was reminded that the context of its work is based on
mandates by Member States to develop, establish and promote inter-
national standards for biological products. Within WHO two units
are working together, namely, Quality Assurance and Safety of
Biologicals (QSB), in the Department of Immunization, Vaccines and
Biologicals, and Quality Assurance and Safety of Plasma Derivatives
and Related Substances (QSD), in the Department of Essential
Health Technologies. The QSB unit is primarily responsible for vac-
cines and biological therapeutics, whereas QSD is primarily respon-
sible for blood products and related in vitro diagnostic devices. Since
this integrated approach had been established 5 years earlier (in
1999), a review to determine whether this organizational structure
was the optimal configuration for the future work of the Organization
in the area of biological standardization was considered timely. The
outcome of this internal review and the conclusions will be communi-
cated to the Committee.
The impact of achievements in biological standardization was high-
lighted. It was noted that these achievements are not always immedi-
ately visible or easy to communicate to decision-makers outside the
field and that one pressing challenge was to improve communication
about why biological standardization matters. Recent examples that
illustrate the impact of the work of the Committee included concerns
from the public about the quality of oral poliomyelitis vaccine in
Nigeria, the need for global regulatory harmonization to assist pre-
paredness for vaccines against avian influenza, the new International
Standard for hepatitis B surface antigen that defines the unitage for
regulatory evaluations of diagnostic test kits around the world, and
the precautionary policies specified in WHO guidance for managing
the risks of transmissible spongiform encephalopathy (TSE) from
biological and pharmaceutical products. The Committee agreed
E there was a need to develop advocacy materials targeted at

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 decision-makers to ensure that the case for biological standardization
is better understood.
The Committee was informed of future WHO priorities, namely to
put more emphasis on regional and country-based activities. This
would be implemented through alterations to the structure of the
2006–2007 budget for the Organization, resulting in more resources
and responsibilities for the regions and countries. The challenge in
this changing environment is to strengthen the core normative activi-
ties in biological standardization.
Steps have been taken by the Secretariat to improve interactions
with the key laboratories that provide essential support to the WHO
biological standardization programme. Specifically a meeting was
held in May 2004 with the WHO International Laboratories and
WHO Collaborating Centres that conduct standardization studies for
WHO. The outcome helped to align the priorities of WHO and the
laboratories.
Crucial aspects for future WHO activities in biological standardiza-
tion were identified. These included:
— the need to strengthen regional networks, training and funding in
developing countries for biological standardization and quality
control;
— to facilitate an efficient process whereby science continues to be
integrated into regulations;
— to continue to improve collaboration with other international
standard setting bodies; and
— to strengthen resources available for the area of work in blood
products and related in vitro diagnostic devices.
A need was also identified to expand the skill base of the group
responsible for biological standardization, namely the Expert Advi-
sory Panel on Biological Standardization. The aim was to achieve the
broadest international representations and diversity in knowledge,
experience and approaches, and to improve the gender balance and
the geographical representation.
Priorities were being addressed for establishing written standards to
maintain the balance between development of new guidance and the
revision of existing guidance depending upon WHO programmes and
needs, and in the area of reference preparations to align international
needs to the available production capacity of the international labora-
tories. Inputs into the prioritization process included the recommen-
dations of this Committee, the International Conference of Drug
Regulatory Authorities, the Strategic Advisory Group of Experts of E

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 the Department of Immunization, Vaccines and Biologicals, the
WHO regional advisers, and various specialized working groups es-
tablished by the Secretariat.
Management and dissemination of all the accumulated knowledge is
crucial. Because the output in terms of guidance documents and
International Standards has to be made available as quickly as pos-
sible to interested parties, WHO is giving high priority to the publica-
tion process. The report of the last two meetings of the ECBS have
been published more quickly in the WHO Technical Report Series
than in the past, and the targeting of each technical report to national
regulatory authorities was being improved. Summary reports of
ECBS meetings have also been published in the journals WHO Drug
Information and Regulatory Affairs Journal Pharma, and reports of
WHO consultations have been published in journals such as Vaccines
and Biologicals. This information was also posted on the WHO web
site (see www.who.int/biologicals). The Biologicals web site was being
modified to meet a new standard that incorporated WHO’s corporate
identity, aimed to improve navigation in general and allows access via
links from the web pages of other units within the WHO web site.
The Committee was reminded that biological standardization re-
mained a core activity for global health. The main focus for WHO in
the near future would be improved support to regions and countries,
the need for additional human resources, improved advocacy in gen-
eral, expanded skills for oversight, improved alignment of priorities
and the improvement of knowledge management.
The Committee welcomed the plans, but reiterated its concerns about
the underfunded and understaffed units, especially that for blood and
blood products, which may lead to difficulties in meeting expectations
if there are no improvements in the near future.

Developments in biological standardization: vaccines and

other biologicals
The Committee was informed of recent developments and action
plans of the Secretariat for the coming years.

Acceptability of cell substrates

The range of cell substrates that could be used for the production of
biological products, including vaccines, is broad. However the range
of cell substrates widely accepted by national regulatory authorities,
especially for vaccine production, is more limited. Historically there is
a trend in preference from primary cells to diploid cells to non-
E tumorigenic continuous cells, as reflected in WHO recommendations

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 (WHO Technical Report Series, No. 878, 1998). A number of vaccine
candidates under development are being produced on cell substrates
that are not widely accepted by national regulatory authorities which
raises a number of issues including the potential risk, if any, from
residual cellular DNA. Currently limits are set for certain cell types,
such as non-tumorigenic continuous cells, but a key issue is whether
this risk management strategy is sufficient to ensure the safety of the
new cell lines under consideration. At a conference organized by the
International Association of Biologics and the US National Institute
of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, held in June 2004, the risk–benefit
evaluation of new cell substrates was judged favourable. WHO was
requested to facilitate the development of international consensus on
specifications for vaccines produced in cells not currently covered by
guidance documents.
The Committee agreed with a proposal that the next steps towards
developing consensus among regulators would be for WHO to estab-
lish a working group to recommend and coordinate scientific studies
to answer specific questions relating to the potential risks from re-
sidual cellular DNA and to ensure that safety and broad acceptability
of new cell substrates are considered impartially. If warranted by the
outcome of the work, a revision of the current document on the use of
cell substrates for production of biologicals (WHO Technical Report
Series, No. 878) should be proposed.

New vaccine development

A comprehensive list of new vaccines under development was pre-
sented, including licensed and candidate rotavirus vaccines; malaria
vaccines for which encouraging clinical trial results have been ob-
tained and improved tuberculosis (TB) vaccines based on recent ad-
vances in genetics and its application to vaccine developments in
general. The use of novel adjuvants was discussed together with the
need for generic guidelines for the vaccines being developed for rare
infectious agents with pandemic potential. Regarding the prepared-
ness for a pandemic of influenza to which WHO assigns a very high
priority, a consensus on how, if needed, to achieve accelerated prod-
uct characterization, nonclinical and clinical evaluation is a pressing
issue.

Regional reference reagents

The Secretariat had identified three models for regional reference
reagents and obtained support for the concept from the WHO Inter-
national Laboratories and Collaborating Centres. A meeting had
been held in the South-East Asia Region of WHO to discuss which E

ECB Text 001-138 5 7/11/06, 7:05 PM

 reagents should be developed and how they will be deployed. The
regional priorities in the South-East Asia Region were identified as
regional reference reagents for whole cell pertussis vaccine and inac-
tivated Japanese encephalitis vaccine. The Committee concurred that
a mentoring process be used to facilitate the development of such
regional reference reagents and that a detailed feasibility assessment
of the South-East Asia Region plans be undertaken.

Portfolio for standardization work on vaccines

The Committee was informed that the priorities in the vaccines area
over the next few years were revision of existing written standards for
rabies, diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis (DTP), bacille Calmette-
Guérin (BCG), DNA vaccines, TSE, oral polio vaccine (OPV), IPV
and GMP. New written standards will be prepared for live attenuated
rotavirus vaccines and regulatory expectations produced for vaccines
with pandemic potential. Needs for new reference materials for
rotavirus vaccines, malaria vaccines and human papilloma virus vac-
cines were identified. Future work will be done on the standardization
of HIV assays, molecular methods for assuring the safety and efficacy
of vaccines and on regulatory expectations for vaccine candidates
derived from plants.

Biological therapeutics
In the field of biological therapeutics WHO will enter a new field of
work on standardization of cells and tissues for transplantation, and a
working group for this purpose is being convened. It is the aim of this
group to have a guidance document reviewed by the Committee, if
possible at its meeting in 2005. Additional issues related to cytokines
and endocrinological substances were covered elsewhere in the
agenda.
The Committee considered that the extensive workplan presented
fulfilled its needs in a comprehensive way. The Secretariat will set
priorities for the programme taking into account the financial and
human resources available.

Developments in biological standardization: blood products

and related in vitro diagnostics
The Committee was informed about the new commitment of WHO to
focus more on country-level activities. Consistent with this is the
priority being given in the programme of work to strengthening
national regulatory authorities for appropriate regulation of blood
and blood products. This is essential because blood can be, and is,
E a vehicle of transmission of infectious diseases and emerging agents.

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 It is estimated there are 77 million blood donations per year world-
wide of which only 61% result in blood of guaranteed quality. Of the
remainder, 34% of donations are collected in countries with deficient
regulatory systems leading to elevated risks for recipients, and 5% of
blood donations are not tested at all.
The Committee was also informed of the recent and future activities
of WHO aimed at improving blood safety on the global level. Several
regional workshops and consultations have been held to assist coun-
tries to improve blood safety, for example, in Argentina in 2004,
for the countries of the Americas on the application of GMP for
blood establishments, or in Bangkok, in 2004, on the harmonization
of quality assurance (QA) systems for blood products in Asian coun-
tries. Thanks were expressed to national regulatory authorities for
their support through the secondment of personnel and expertise to
support such activities (e.g. the Paul Ehrlich Institute, Germany;
Swissmedic, Switzerland; and Center for Biologics Evaluation and
Research (CBER), USA).
The formation of regional networks as powerful tools for improving
the safety and quality of blood products in the regions, with priority
being given to the implementation of GMP rules by blood establish-
ments according to existing guidelines from the Pharmaceutical
Inspection Cooperation Scheme (PICS), was under way. Apprecia-
tion was expressed for the active involvement of specialized inspec-
tors from PICS in the work. The Committee encouraged WHO to
establish an informal group of experts from experienced regulatory
authorities to support WHO in this regional work.
One consequence of giving priority to activities for strengthening
GMP in blood establishments was that, with the resources available
to QSD and consistent with the decision of its fifty-fourth meeting,
the revision of the recommendations for blood, blood components
and plasma derivatives: collection, processing and quality control re-
mained on hold as an unmet need.

Developments in biological standardization: advancement of

technical expertise of regulatory authorities in the area of
blood products and in vitro diagnostics
A short overview of the Paul Ehrlich Institute, Germany, and its
duties and responsibilities was given. This focused on research in the
field of blood products and related in vitro diagnostics. For example,
testing of batch release hepatitis B antibody diagnostic kits and HIV
antibody diagnostic kits had led to the withdrawal of some products
from the market due to a loss of activity documented over time. As E

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 these problems had not been identified by the manufacturers, this
emphasized the need for independent testing of key in vitro diagnos-
tic devices by national regulatory authorities. The Paul Ehrlich
Institute supports WHO in many respects and proposes to offer its
expertise in the field of blood products and in vitro diagnostic devices
in particular.
Consistent with the outcome of the International Conference of
Drug Regulatory Authorities held in Madrid in 2004, the Committee
recommended that WHO promote standards and regulations for
blood, blood products and in vitro diagnostic devices, and obtain
worldwide cooperation from national regulatory authorities to im-
prove their technical expertise in this area. The Committee agreed
that there was a need not only for WHO to build capacity in countries,
but also for WHO to facilitate opportunities for cooperative
action among experienced blood and blood product regulators.
The Committee recommended WHO to establish a global network
of experienced regulatory authorities to cooperate in risk assessment
and information sharing. The goals of the network may include
scientific assessment of current and emerging threats to global
public health from blood, assessment of blood-related technologies
with an impact on public health, cooperative actions of regulatory
authorities, opportunities for regulatory harmonization and advising
WHO on those of its activities that have an impact on worldwide
regulation of blood, blood products and related in vitro diagnostic
devices.
The Committee welcomed the initiative and encouraged WHO to
take appropriate steps for its realization the first of which would be
the development of terms of reference for the network, which, when
formed, should report to the Expert Committee on Biological
Standardization.

Developments in biological standardization: new web site for

dissemination of information from Quality Assurance and
Safety of Plasma Derivatives and Related Substances
A presentation was given on the basis for the establishment of a new
web site for the dissemination of information on blood products and
regulation of in vitro diagnostic devices to countries worldwide in an
efficient and user-friendly manner.
The new web site will, as before, include a page on norms and
standards, from which information on WHO International Standards
may be obtained. Moreover, in response to the new WHO policy of
E increased emphasis on countries, four new pages have been created

ECB Text 001-138 8 7/11/06, 7:05 PM

 focusing on strengthening the technical capacity of national regula-
tory authorities. The new pages are as follows:
Quality and safety of blood products. This page gives an overview of
the technical support provided in the area of quality assurance of
plasma derivatives and other related substances.
Support to regulatory authorities: This page has introduced a new tool,
a basic operational framework (BOF), through which regulatory
authorities are able to identify gaps in capacity. An online database is
being developed that will make it possible for a BOF questionnaire to
be completed online and sent back electronically. The use of BOFs as
a web-based tool through the Web for the identification of gaps
highlights the interactive nature of the future web site. The activities
of the International Conference of Drug Regulatory Authorities
(ICDRA) are also included on this page.
Regulation of in vitro diagnostic devices. Links to infectious markers,
blood-grouping devices, coagulation disorders and thromboplastin
reagents, and to the respective documents from WHO collaborative
studies, can be found in this section.
Good manufacturing practices. This page covers activities relating to
quality and safety of plasma derivatives and other related substances
with information mainly on recent and future workshops.
Additional pages. Pages of topical relevance are also provided: at
present these pages cover transmissible spongiform encephalopathies
(TSE) and animal sera (which covers antivenom sera). It is intended
that new pages dealing with issues of global public health concern will
be added as and when the need arises.
The Committee welcomed these improvements and recommended
that resources be made available to ensure the development of the
web site as an interactive forum.

Developments in biological standardization: reports from the

WHO International Laboratories
The Committee was informed of recent developments at the WHO
International Laboratories for Biological Standardization.

National Institute for Biological Standards and Control (NIBSC),

Potters Bar, England
The Committee was provided with an overview from the National
Institute for Biological Standards and Control (NIBSC) regarding the
production and distribution of WHO International Standards. At the
new Centre for Biological Reference Materials at the Institute, E

ECB Text 001-138 9 7/11/06, 7:05 PM

 installation and validation of major equipment was in progress. The
vial-filling capability was expected to be fully operational by the end
of 2004 and the ampoule-filling and sealing machines in the first
quarter of 2005. This would substantially increase the production
capacity of the Institute. A new project management-based process
for developing standards had been established. Information on all
projects will be entered in a new database to allow better and longer
term resource planning, and to enable filling schedules in the new
facility to be optimized. The database is designed to capture all infor-
mation needed and will allow knowledge to be retained over time. It
will give greater transparency to all projects; 67 projects have already
been included. The output from the database will be available to the
Committee to help in establishing priorities, and a critical element in
the development of International Standards will be the endorsement
by the Committee of the planned projects. NIBSC welcomed sugges-
tions for improving the database. One point of special interest was the
direct accessibility of the database by the Secretariat. Regular contact
would be maintained with the Secretariat, especially to discuss new
projects.
The Committee was informed of the risks to global biological stan-
dardization if the NIBSC were to suffer a catastrophic loss of stocks
and of the measures taken by the Institute to militate against this risk.
The possibilities for offsite storage of important reference materials
have been investigated, and, as a result, it is proposed to store a stock
of approximately 100 containers of each International Standard
offsite. The major problem in case of a catastrophic loss will be the
limited pool of expertise and expert knowledge available to generate
full replacement stocks, which means the process would inevitably be
lengthy.
The NIBSC offered support for the WHO initiative to establish re-
gional working standards. A short training course was to be offered in
2005. For the future, a more structured course is being planned, but
better training facilities at the Institute would be needed for that
purpose.
The Committee was reminded of the substantial commitment by the
Government of the United Kingdom to biological standardization.
However, as a result of a recent review, major management changes
are to be implemented, and NIBSC will become the responsibility of
the Health Protection Agency of the United Kingdom. There are
some concerns for the future, and the Committee considered it essen-
tial that the international dimension of NIBSC’s work be preserved.
E At risk is future funding and how this funding will be directed. The

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 Committee considered it essential for WHO to be actively integrated
in the consultation process to enable it to express its concerns.

Feedback from users: issues highlighted by the WHO Global

Training Network and by the WHO prequalification process
for vaccines
The Committee was informed of the progress in the WHO vaccine
pre-qualification process. In April 2004 a consultation was held with
the aim of increasing the general understanding of prequalification
for vaccines and the involvement of national regulatory authorities in
the process, and to adapt the process to respond to new challenges
(particularly novel vaccines). The consultation provided valuable
feedback to the Committee on the implementation of its guidelines on
regulatory expectations for clinical evaluation of vaccines (WHO
Technical Report Series, No. 924) after the guidelines had been used
during the prequalification assessment of a number of vaccines. It was
found that the guidelines defined general principles adequately, but
the participants reported a need to develop consensus on certain
issues to supplement these general principles. The report of the con-
sultation thus documented examples with specific vaccines as a way of
supplementing the general guidance provided in WHO Technical
Report Series, No. 924, but considered that there was no need,
at present, for the text published in WHO Technical Report Series,
No. 924 to be revised.
The consultation also provided feedback to the Committee on the
application of the WHO guidelines for GMP for biologicals (WHO
Technical Report Series, No. 822). These guidelines are also general
and there is a need to harmonize their interpretation by the various
GMP experts during WHO prequalification site visits. Different opin-
ions have been expressed particularly regarding the interpretation of
guidelines referring to air-handling and quality of water used at differ-
ent stages of production. Other issues where more guidance would be
useful included media fills (a process to check the overall stability of
a filling line in the factory), cleaning validation and validation of
computerized systems. The consultation requested that the WHO
GMP guidelines for biologicals be reviewed, and the Committee
agreed with this proposal.
In addition to these matters, the Committee was informed of several
changes that will be made to the WHO prequalification process
for vaccines, such as streamlining the procedure for site visits if
defined criteria are fulfilled, and simplifications of the reassessment
procedure. E

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 An essential prerequisite for prequalification is that the national regu-
latory authority in the country of manufacture is assessed by WHO
against six critical functions. These functional indicators were revised
during 2004 and the Committee was informed of the new criteria that
needed to be met for national regulatory authorities to be regarded as
functional by WHO.
Information was given on the activities of the WHO Global Training
Network. Since its inception, trainees from more than 80 countries
had attended training courses. Training had been conducted for
licensing (76 trainees), for clinical trials (53 trainees), for laboratory
testing (209 trainees), for lot release (12 trainees), for GMP (205
trainees), and, for recognizing and responding to adverse events after
immunization (242 trainees). Depending on future needs, training
modules will be developed in other fields such as quality control
methods and clinical evaluation. The Global Training Network was
also keen to support the proposal from the Committee to develop a
training module in biological standardization.

International guidelines, recommendations and

other matters related to the manufacture and
quality control of biologicals
Guidelines for production and quality control of candidate
tetravalent dengue virus vaccines (live)
In response to expressions of interest from many countries in the
development of candidate live attenuated tetravalent dengue vac-
cines, preliminary draft guidelines on production and quality control
specifications for tetravalent dengue vaccine (live) were initially de-
veloped by a small drafting group established by WHO. These were
presented at the forty-eighth meeting of the WHO Expert Committee
on Biological Standardization held in 1997. At that time the Commit-
tee advised that further progress in the field of dengue vaccine devel-
opment was needed to before it would be appropriate for WHO to
develop guidance on technical specifications for these candidate vac-
cines. Subsequently WHO established a Task Force on Clinical Trials
of Dengue Vaccines, and at the second meeting of this Group, held in
Denver, Colorado, in November 2002, it was considered timely by the
experts present, for WHO to recommence the development of the
production and quality control guidelines. The WHO Secretariat
agreed, and convened a small drafting group to review the previous
draft. The drafting group met twice, first in Geneva from 20–21 March
E 2003, where the original document was reviewed, and then in

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 Philadelphia, USA, from 2–3 December 2003, when a new draft was
reviewed. Taking into account the comments arising from that meet-
ing, document WHO/BS/04.1989 was prepared and distributed for the
purpose of inviting comments and suggestions on the proposals
therein.
This document covers candidate live attenuated tetravalent dengue
vaccines and, moreover, only those vaccine candidates for which
active clinical trials are in progress. The WHO Task Force on Clinical
Trials for Dengue Vaccines is aware that certain tetravalent vaccine
candidates have been generated by taking original patient isolates
from each serotype and passaging these isolates in dog primary kid-
ney cells to attenuate the viruses. Extensive testing has been done to
define the attenuation phenotype for each of the vaccine candidates.
Vaccine formulations are being developed based on the optimal de-
gree of attenuation and immunogenicity. Another type of vaccine
candidate has been generated from molecular clones of each of
the four dengue virus serotypes. These viruses contains a 30-
nucleotide deletion in the 3′ non-coding region that generates candi-
date attenuated vaccines. In addition, chimeric vaccine candidates
that contain the structural region of the other three dengue serotypes
in a dengue virus type 4 backbone containing the 30-nucleotide
deletion are being prepared for clinical development. A further
vaccine candidate is a chimeric vaccine made by expressing the
dengue virus structural proteins, prM and E in a molecular clone of
the yellow fever virus vaccine 17D backbone. A combination tetrava-
lent vaccine is currently under development, which will have all
four dengue serotypes, represented as chimeric dengue–yellow fever
vaccines.
Issues that were considered during the consultation process, and by
the Committee, included specifications:
— for vaccines developed in Vero cells, dog primary kidney cells and
fetal rhesus lung diploid cells;
— for the plaque or focus-forming assay specified for determinations
of infectivity in a tetravalent mixture. Because there are as yet no
candidate titration standards, WHO was advised to consider de-
veloping such reagents and organizing their subsequent character-
ization by international collaborative study;
— for programmes to determine the thermal stability of the final
tetravalent freeze-dried product and the stability of the liquid
vaccine after reconstitution. It was noted that in some countries,
stability testing of intermediates is required. WHO was requested
to develop further guidance on this issue; E

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 — for an accelerated degradation test to be performed on each new
batch of vaccine to show the consistency of manufacture of the
final stabilized formulation;
— for vectored vaccines where reference to general WHO principles
for vaccines for human use derived by molecular methods, that are
under development,1 should be considered; and
— for nonclinical testing of candidate dengue vaccines for which, in
addition to the conventional procedures, the issue of antibody-
mediated disease enhancement should be addressed.
During the discussion the Committee emphasized that these guide-
lines covered only candidate vaccines, because no vaccine has been
licensed so far.
After making modifications to the document, the Committee recom-
mended that it be adopted and be published as Annex 1 to this
report.

Recommendations for the preparation, characterization

and establishment of international and other biological
reference standards
Biological reference standards form the basis of regulation and clini-
cal dose regimens for biological medicines and also for regulation of
in vitro diagnostic devices. The process whereby such international
biological reference standards are established and the technical speci-
fications with which they comply are set out in a written standard,
which is intended to be scientific and advisory in nature.
WHO written guidance for biological reference standards was first
published in 1978, although the first standard preparation was estab-
lished as early as 1925. The guidance was revised in 1986 following the
decisions by the WHO Expert Committee on Biological Standardiza-
tion to simplify the nomenclature of international biological reference
standards and that reference materials of human origin should be
tested for evidence of possible contamination. The document was
revised again in 1990 when a section was added on information to be
provided in support of requests for adoption by the WHO Expert
Committee on Biological Standards of international biological refer-
ence standards. A number of developments had occurred since then.
Partly because of scientific and technical advances, the range of
materials classified as biological substances has altered: many older
biologicals can now be appropriately characterized by chemical and

1
WHO Informal Consultation on characterization and quality aspects of vaccines based
on live virus vectors. Geneva, 4–5 December, 2003 (available at: www.who.int/
E biologicals).

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 physical means and their WHO biological reference materials have
been discontinued, while new groups of biological substances have
been developed. It has been recognized that there is a need for some
reference materials to be made available promptly without the rigor-
ous characterization and testing of international biological standards.
This has led to a new group of WHO Reference Reagents which may
act as interim standards. A priority-setting process has been pub-
lished. The science of reference material preparation and character-
ization has continued to evolve and the extent to which principles for
the characterization of reference materials in other fields can be
applied to biological reference materials has been debated. WHO has
therefore worked with the scientific community, national regulatory
authorities, other standard-setting bodies and users through a series
of consultations to review the scientific basis of characterization of
biological reference materials. As a result, the concepts used by WHO
for biological standardization were re-affirmed as being appropriate
to ensure the continued usefulness of this class of reference materials.
During the consultation process it was recognized that improved
clarity in explaining the rationale for the principles used by WHO in
biological standardization would be desirable. Accordingly a revised
version of the WHO guidance was prepared (WHO/BS/04.1995). This
had been reviewed in a consultation held in Geneva from 30 Septem-
ber to 1 October 2004 and an updated document (WHO/BS/04.1995
27 October 2004) was considered by the Committee. After making
some changes, the Committee adopted the text as Recommendations
for the preparation, characterization and establishment of interna-
tional and other biological standards and agreed it should be annexed
to its report (Annex 2).
The consultative process had also revealed a need for continued
scientific and capacity-building work in the area of biological stan-
dards. Thus the Committee also recommended that WHO consider
starting or continuing work specifically on:
— predicting and monitoring the stability of biologicals;
— specific training modules for biological standardization, with the
collaboration of the WHO Global Training Network; and
— developing a manual to describe in detail the calibration proce-
dures for secondary standards.

Recommendations for the production and control of rabies

vaccines — proposed revision
The Committee was informed that authoritative information regard-
ing rabies is available in the reports of the WHO Expert Committee
on Rabies, most recently in WHO Technical Report Series, No. 824, E

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 published in 1994, which dealt with all issues related to rabies, in-
cluding immunization schedules, surveillance and epidemiology of
the disease.
In the area of vaccine production and quality control, the Committee
established the Requirements for rabies vaccine for human use in
1980 (WHO Technical Report Series, No. 658), WHO Requirements
for rabies vaccine (inactivated) for human use produced in continu-
ous cell lines (WHO Technical Report Series, No. 760) in 1987, and an
amendment which documented the introduction of new reference
materials was published in WHO Technical Report Series, No. 840
in 1994. Since that time, significant advances in the production and
control of rabies vaccines have been made and the Committee
was informed of plans to revise and consolidate the current WHO
documents.
In preparation for the above-mentioned revision, a working group on
potency assays for rabies vaccines was convened at WHO in Geneva,
on 20 May 2003 to review the current approach to potency testing and
the recent data generated on in vitro assays. In addition, a drafting
group was convened in May 2004 to initiate the revision of the current
requirements for rabies vaccines for human use.
The issues that would be considered during the revision were:
— the scope of the document including the substrates for vaccine
production that the revised document would cover;
— the inactivation process;
— the test for effective inactivation (following a recent problem with
one product);
— potency tests and the use of in vitro assays for determination of the
antigen content;
— stability tests and the value of the accelerated degradation test;
and
— requirements of national regulatory authorities.
The Committee advised on additional issues to be considered in the
revision process. Harmonization between the European Pharmaco-
poeia and WHO requirements with respect to the test for complete
inactivation should be achieved. The tests for inactivation currently
include a direct test in mice or an indirect test by amplification on cell
substrates. The European Pharmacopoeia permits the use of immun-
ofluorescence for the detection of virus in cell culture whereas the
WHO requirements require a test in mice. The possibility that an
analysis of the kinetics of inactivation, which is product- and process-
specific, be introduced on a routine basis to monitor the effectiveness
E of virus inactivation was also suggested for consideration.

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 Detailed information on the number of doses produced per year and
number of doses administered per year in different countries for
rabies vaccines produced in different substrates will be useful for the
revision of the recommendations. The Committee agreed with a pro-
posal from the drafting group that the production and use of vaccines
produced in neural tissues (such as sheep and goat brain) be discon-
tinued and such vaccines should no longer be within the scope of the
document. Information concerning obstacles to be overcome in
switching to cell culture production, such as difficulty in sourcing a
suitable strain of virus for production, the availability of know-how or
the cost of production in cell culture and impact on the price of the
vaccine should also be investigated.
A difficulty in the area of potency tests (the mouse National Institutes
of Health (NIH) test) and the use of in vitro assays for determination
of the antigen content (enzyme immunoassays (EIAs) for glycopro-
tein content) is that there is no correlation between the NIH and EIA
test data. Such a correlation was required by the Committee 10 years
ago when it rejected proposals for the introduction of tests for glyco-
protein antigen content to replace the NIH test in vaccines of proven
consistent production. At the meeting of the drafting group in May
2004, it was agreed that assays for glycoprotein antigen content may
demonstrate consistency of production. The group considered the
available reagents and whether monoclonal antibodies could differ-
entiate between antigenic but nonimmunogenic vaccines. Reagents
that react only with conformational epitopes found on immunogenic
antigen are available. It was suggested that EIA as a measurement of
consistency of production could be used together with the NIH test
for a period of time. After a review of data generated from tests in
parallel, the omission of the NIH test could be considered for an
individual vaccine. Moreover, it was proposed that the performance
of a single-dose mouse protection test be recommended for vaccines
for which the parameters of the NIH tests have been established with
well-established vaccines.
The Committee concluded that the scope of the revised recom-
mendations should include inactivated vaccines produced in cell cul-
tures, ranging from primary cells (hamster and chick embryo), human
and monkey diploid cells, to continuous cell lines, and also vaccines
containing inactivated virus purified from duck embryos. Further-
more the Committee suggested that the requirements for rabies
vaccines for human use (WHO Technical Report Series, No. 658)
that cover the production of vaccines in neural tissue should not be
discontinued immediately once the revised requirements for rabies
vaccine are accepted, but should remain valid for a defined but short E

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 period (e.g. 3 years) to allow manufacturers to switch to alternative
substrates.

Recommendations for the production and quality control

of diphtheria, pertussis and tetanus vaccines —
proposed revision
Outcome of the meeting of the European Directorate for the Quality
of Medicines on serological potency tests for diphtheria and
other vaccines
The outcome of the meeting on serological potency tests for diphthe-
ria and other vaccines held in October 2004, which was attended by
57 participants from 17 countries, was presented to the Expert
Committee on Biological Standardization. The report will be pub-
lished in Pharmeuropa, 2005, 17. The participants at the meeting
considered the implications of a recently completed international
collaborative study of serological potency tests for diphtheria-
containing vaccines. The study confirmed that serological potency
tests were suitable for assay of a wide range of diphtheria-containing
combination vaccines that are on the market in Europe. As a next
step, EDQM will propose a modification of the European Pharmaco-
poeia to introduce such tests in addition to the currently used lethal
challenge test. This would bring the European Pharmacopoeia into
line with WHO specifications which have allowed the possibility of
such tests for more than 10 years. Guidelines will be established
regarding validation and implementation of the new method. Train-
ing courses and access to standards will be organized.
Preliminary data presented at the EDQM meeting suggested that it
may be possible to select appropriate dilutions of vaccine and refer-
ence antigen to inoculate into animals so that the serological method
may be used to assay responses to diphtheria and tetanus simulta-
neously, and possibly also to IPV. Also a one-dilution assay in guinea-
pigs was discussed for routine batch release by manufacturers and
official medicines control laboratories.

Proposed revision of WHO recommendations

The Committee was informed about a planned revision of the WHO
Requirements for diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis vaccines (WHO
Technical Report Series, No. 800). An amendment to this document,
endorsed by the Committee in 2003, considered only some aspects of
the potency tests for diphtheria and tetanus vaccines. This amend-
ment was considered as a first step towards a full revision with the
objective of achieving further harmonization. A number of issues for
E consideration during the revision process had been identified, espe-

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 cially concerning pertussis vaccines. For whole-cell pertussis vaccines,
these included the assay of bacterial concentration; evaluation of
production consistency; specifications for the potency test; the scien-
tific basis for the mouse weight-gain test; and characterization of the
fourth International Standard. For acellular pertussis vaccines, the
issues included specifications for potency and toxicity tests; the extent
of nonclinical testing, and the design of clinical trials, required for a
new manufacturer of acellular pertussis vaccine; and the duration of
protection. The Committee was reminded that it had published a
separate document to give guidance on acellular pertussis vaccines
(WHO Technical Report Series, No. 878), and was requested to give
guidance on whether to continue with two different documents.
The Committee advised that the goal should be to have one document
on diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis with separate sections on whole-
cell pertussis vaccine and acellular pertussis vaccine. The first step
towards achieving this should be updating the Requirements for diph-
theria, tetanus, pertussis and combined vaccines (WHO Technical
Report Series, No. 800, Annex 2). The existing guidelines for acellular
pertussis (WHO Technical Report Series, No. 878) should be updated
as a distinct step but, once finalized, both sets of revised recom-
mendations should be published together in one volume of the WHO
Technical Report Series.

Guidelines for the safe production of poliomyelitis vaccines

from attenuated Sabin strains — proposal
The current status of the global polio eradication programme was
described to the Committee. In 2003, only 784 cases had occurred in
six countries. However, starting in 2003, vaccination with the oral
poliomyelitis vaccine (OPV) was completely stopped in one region of
one of the countries in which polio remained endemic. Vaccine was
withheld for more than a year and, as a result, poliovirus reseeded not
only this country but also other countries in the region, including
countries that had been completely polio-free in recent years.
The strategic goals were reaffirmed, i.e.
— that there would be no more polio cases worldwide after 2005; and
— cessation of vaccination with OPV after a suitable interval of time
following the last case of polio, in all countries of the world.
It was considered likely that a number of countries would change to
vaccination with IPV. The manufacture of IPV requires the produc-
tion of large volumes and high concentrations of virulent live wild-
type polioviruses that are then inactivated. Manufacture is currently
limited to producers in Canada and Europe. The Committee had E

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 previously established guidelines for the safe production and quality
control of IPV to manage the risk of reintroduction of wild poliovi-
ruses from production facilities when wild polioviruses no longer
circulate in the community. At an ad hoc Advisory Committee on
Polio Eradication (AACPE), meeting held in 2004, a programme of
work for cessation of OPV in the future was established. In the
context of biological standardization, there was a need to refine the
current guidelines on the safe production and quality control of IPV,
to define measures for the containment of the Sabin strains at produc-
tion sites after cessation of OPV use, and to establish effective tools to
verify the implementation of biosafety guidelines on manufacturing
sites.
The Committee was informed that monovalent OPV (mOPV) is in-
tended for a WHO stockpile in case an emergency need for vaccina-
tion should occur after all vaccination with OPV has ceased. mOPV
induces type-specific mucosal immunity more rapidly than do the
trivalent vaccines, leading to a faster specific protection in the popu-
lation. The AACPE advised that mOPV 1 may be used before polio
had been eradicated in a country or region where only wild poliovirus
type 1 circulated. It was anticipated that mOPV 1 may be introduced
into one country in 2005, and it was noted that the registration of
mOPV 1 for the eradication of wild poliovirus type 1 would be benefi-
cial not only in accelerating the eradication of wild poliovirus in that
country, but also to gain up-to-date experience in the use of the future
stockpile vaccine.
Another high priority is the development of Sabin derived IPV vac-
cines as an alternative to the wild-type derived products used today.
This will have implications for the written standards and reference
standards produced by WHO. The Committee advised on additional
items of importance, namely how to maintain the expertise in polio
neurovirulence testing for the future, and recommended that WHO
determine whether at least one centre should be designated for that
purpose.
The Committee agreed that this programme be further developed
and encouraged rapid development of the proposed written standards
and reference standards.

Recommendations, guidelines and other documents for

biological substances used in medicine: review of the
consolidated list
The recommendations (formerly “requirements”) and guidelines
E published by WHO are scientific and advisory in nature, but they may

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 be adopted by a national regulatory authority as national require-
ments or they may be used as the basis for national requirements.
These international recommendations and guidelines are also in-
tended to provide guidance to those responsible for the production of
biologicals as well as to others who may have to decide upon appro-
priate methods of testing, assay and control to ensure the quality,
safety and efficacy of these products.
A consolidated list of WHO Recommendations and Guidelines,
together with a list of a variety of other documents produced by the
WHO biological standardization programme, is published as
an Annex to each report of the ECBS (the latest version appeared as
Annex 7 to the fifty-fourth report of the Expert Committee on
Biological Standardization). No comprehensive review of the items in
the published list has been performed in recent years. At the request
of the Secretariat, the list of recommendations and guidelines for
biological substances used in medicine and other documents was re-
viewed. Proposals for changes to the format of the list of Recommen-
dations, Guidelines and other Documents and individual items for
revision, updating or possible discontinuation were made (WHO/BS/
04.1996).
The Committee identified a number of documents that could be dis-
continued. They decided to follow the procedure established at its
forty-eighth meeting according to which proposals to discontinue a
WHO standard were published for comment before a final decision
was taken. The Committee recommended discontinuation of the fol-
lowing documents in 2005, provided that no objections were raised:
— Recommendations on Human Interferons made by Recombinant
DNA Techniques (WHO Technical Report Series, No. 771, 1988),
because the principles are covered by the general Recommenda-
tion on Products made by Recombinant Techniques (WHO Tech-
nical Report Series, No. 814, 1991).
— Rift Valley Fever Vaccine (WHO Technical Report Series, No.
673, 1982)
— Development of national assay services for hormones and other
substances in community health care (WHO Technical Report
Series, No. 565, 1975)
— Guidelines for quality assessment of antitumour antibiotics
(WHO Technical Report Series, No. 658, 1981)
— Recommendations for the assessment of binding-assay systems
(WHO Technical Report Series, No. 565, 1975)
— Summary protocol for the batch release of virus vaccines (WHO
Technical Report Series, No. 822, 1992) E

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 The Committee also noted that a number of reports from WHO
informal consultations were listed in the Annex published after each
report of the Committee, but that this was not done in a consistent
way. The Committee advised that such reports should be systemati-
cally listed, and made available through the web site. In view of this
decision the following reports will no longer be listed in the Annex
published in the WHO Technical Report Series.
— Standardization of interferons (WHO Technical Report Series,
No. 687, 1983; 725, 1985; and 771, 1988)
— Report on the standardization and calibration of cytokine assays
(WHO Technical Report Series, No. 889, 1997)
The Committee further noted that some of the documents need revi-
sion because the types of vaccines used have changed (e.g. typhoid
vaccines and rabies vaccines). Where work was not already in
progress, the Committee advised the Secretariat to review the need
and to develop a plan to address this. The Committee endorsed the
conclusion of the review that the publication of a single volume con-
taining all the updated recommendations and guidelines should be
considered. Such a volume would collect together into one place
documents appearing in many different reports of the Committee and
constitute an important resource for all those involved in the develop-
ment, manufacture and regulation of biologicals. The list should also
be made available on the web site.
Finally, the Committee advised that the list should be regularly re-
viewed to identify other biological products or topics of emerging
importance for which the drafting of recommendations or guidelines
would be beneficial.
After making the changes noted above, the Committee recom-
mended that the list be adopted and be published as Annex 3 to this
report.

Quality, safety and efficacy of antivenom sera

There are approximately 3000 species of snake worldwide, 600 of
which are venomous. Studies carried out over the last 60 years
have shown high incidences of snake bites leading to numerous
deaths in humans (global estimate: 50 000 to 125 000 deaths per year).
Not all snakebites are fatal, but may result in permanent physical
disability (including the need for limb amputation), chronic
ulceration, osteomyelitis with malignant transformation, chronic re-
nal failure, chronic pituitary-adrenal insufficiency and neurological
E sequelae.

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 Antivenom therapy is key to the medical management of snakebite
and other venomous bites and stings. Unfortunately there are a num-
ber of problems for developing countries in assessing and using
antivenoms. These include:
— a reduction in the number of manufacturers;
— poor regulatory control over the manufacture of antivenoms;
— poor regulatory control over their importation;
— high costs;
— logistical problems in distribution; and
— lack of knowledge about the correct medical management of bites
and stings from venomous animals, including the appropriate use
of antivenoms.
The collaboration of manufacturers and regulatory bodies worldwide
is needed to ensure the availability of safe and effective antivenoms.
The Committee welcomed this item being brought up again and
strongly recommended WHO to reconsider better resourcing of the
respective units at WHO and to strengthen the technical capacity of
regulatory authorities and the formation of regional networks to im-
prove regulatory control over the manufacture, import and sale of
antivenoms. Attention should be given to providing better education
in countries to improve prevention of snakebites and to ensure best
practice in the use of antivenoms. In addition initiatives should be
taken to obtain additional funding to sustain the manufacture of these
products.

Good manufacturing practices for blood establishments:

progress report on training activities
The Committee was informed about the activities of WHO regarding
the application of GMP, which is one of the most productive areas for
improving the safety of blood and blood products in the regions. The
major problems in many countries are:
— lack of regulation;
— regulation that is inadequate or not implemented;
— lack of government awareness; and
— lack of understanding and technical capacity.
An important goal is to bring together all parties involved: the
regulatory authority, inspectors, plasma supplier and plasma
fractionators, and blood transfusion institutions. To start the imple-
mentation of GMP, the training of inspectors to give them sufficient
knowledge of blood collection and plasma fractionation is a key
factor. E

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 The experience gained from the first training course held in Argentina
in 2004 was presented. Eight countries participated. On-site inspec-
tions were performed during the workshop. The PICS Guide was
accepted by all the countries as their future standard. Regional speci-
fications may need to be added to this general GMP guide.
The Committee expressed its appreciation of the efforts made in
improving blood safety as this was work of the utmost importance,
and encouraged WHO to continue.

International Reference Materials

Comparison of glass ampoules versus rubber-stoppered vials
for the storage of international biological standards
The Committee was informed of the outcome of a study performed at
NIBSC to compare the appropriateness of ampoules with that of vials
for storing international biological reference standards (WHO/BS/
04.2004). The current preference is to use ampoules which are
thought to offer superior long-term stability. Working standards in
the pharmaceutical industry, by contrast, are often stored in stop-
pered and screw-capped vials. In a comparative study, a physico-
chemical evaluation of lyophilized albumin stored in stoppered vials,
screw-capped vials and conventional ampoules was undertaken. Low-
temperature freeze-drying was used for all three types of container.
Determinations of residual moisture using Karl Fischer titration and
of residual oxygen using Orbisphere equipment were made over time
and at different temperatures. A statistical analysis of the data ob-
tained showed that moisture in ampoules did not change over time,
whereas it increased in screw-capped and stoppered vials. This in-
crease occurred in the first 2 months, after which it tended to stabilize.
It is assumed that the moisture was derived from the stoppers. Al-
though the oxygen content in ampoules showed higher starting levels
there was no variation over 12 months of storage time. Because
moisture levels in ampoules do not vary over time and gas levels stay
stable, it was concluded that heat-fused ampoules are preferable to
vials for the storage of reference materials which are intended for
indefinite storage and for which stability is an essential requirement.
The Committee concurred that such containers should be the default
option for WHO international biological reference standards. How-
ever, it was recognized that other factors may influence the choice of
container, especially for infectious fills or for working standards, and
the Committee recommended that decisions on alternative closures
E be made on a case-by-case basis.

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 Priorities for replacement and new international biological
reference standards for biologicals
National Institute for Biological Standards and Control
Current projects on international standardization were presented to
the Committee as laid down in the new database at NIBSC. There are
67 projects included, of which more than 40 deal with viral or bacterial
vaccines. The current list should be used by the Committee as the
starting point for its work and will be updated continuously. NIBSC
welcomes any suggestions for improving the database. The projects
on the list were considered as approved.
The Committee provided advice on a number of specific projects on
bacterial vaccine standardization at NIBSC as described below.

Standards for Haemophilus influenzae type b vaccine

Quality control testing of H. Influenzae type b conjugate vaccines
depends to a great extent on physicochemical methods to ensure the
consistency of manufacture of batches. A wide variety of chemical
assays are used for quantification of 3-B-D ribofuranosyl(1-1)-d-
ribitol-5-phosphate (referred to as PRP), the units of which the linear
polymer of the type b polysaccharide is comprised. The assays for
PRP are performed at various stages of manufacture: on the purified
polysaccharide; after it has been covalently coupled to the protein
carrier; on the bulk conjugates; and on the final lot vaccines. All
assays assign the quantity of PRP in absolute values (μg/ml).
A candidate PRP reference preparation containing a known quantity
of polysaccharide had been prepared to facilitate calibration of the
assays. This candidate PRP standard was the subject of a collabora-
tive study for evaluation.
The Committee expressed its opinion that the proposed use of the
material should be clarified and defined, and advised that if it was
intended to assign a unitage in SI units (μg/ml) to this preparation
then the specifications in the newly established WHO Recommenda-
tions for preparation, characterization and establishment of interna-
tional and other biological reference standards (Annex 2) should be
adhered to.

Progress with replacement of flocculation standards for diphtheria

and tetanus
The first international reference reagent for diphtheria toxoid for
flocculation test and the first international reference reagent for teta-
nus toxoid for flocculation test were established in 1988 for use in
calculation of the “limit of flocculation” (Lf) units and confirmation of E

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 antigenic purity. The flocculation test is still the method of choice of
manufacturers to establish the antigenic strength of toxoids although
other methods can be used to confirm purity and consistency of
production. The Committee agreed at its 2003 meeting to initiate
a collaborative study to prepare suitable replacement reagents.
The Committee was informed that, in feasibility tests, the candidate
replacement reagent for tetanus toxoid preparations was found to be
unsuitable for use in the flocculation test because of a high glycine
content. An alternative material for use in the flocculation test has
been secured from the Statens Serum Institute in Copenhagen and
trial formulations are being tested at NIBSC. Assuming that the new
candidate is of appropriate quality, material would be distributed for
a collaborative study for which completion and analysis were sched-
uled for the end of 2005. The candidate replacement material for
diphtheria flocculation tests was confirmed as suitable in feasibility
tests, and collaborative studies of this material are also planned.

Sanquin-CLB
The Committee was informed that there was a need for thromboplas-
tin standards to be replaced because of reduced stocks, and that it was
not yet clear if, in the future strategy at Sanquin-CLB, international
biological standardization activities for WHO would still be given
high priority. The Committee recommended that continuity of the
custodianship of WHO standards and support for work in this area of
biological standardization was of the utmost importance and the
Secretariat was requested to explore ways to ensure continuity of
custodianship.

European Directorate for the Quality of Medicines

The Committee was informed that more than 50% of all projects
currently being undertaken by the European Directorate for the
Quality of Medicines (EDQM), to establish regional reference re-
agents are done in collaboration with WHO, and also the US Food
and Drug Administration, to make most efficient use of resources and
time. A major problem facing European laboratories, and which will
have repercussions worldwide, is that the manufacturer of the hepati-
tis B in vitro assay kit used in vaccine potency tests will cease produc-
tion in the near future. A replacement assay is being studied with the
support of the EDQM. A smallpox immunoglobulin standard would
be established by EDQM towards the end of 2004. The Committee
was further informed that the EDQM would take the lead in devel-
oping mycoplasma reference materials within the International
E Conference on Harmonisation (ICH) process. Programmes are under

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 way for blood products such as a working standard for Factor VII
concentrate and normal human plasma for assay of solvent/detergent
plasma. Replacement methods are being developed for biotechnol-
ogy products such as erythropoietin. A clear need for a reference for
botulinum toxin was identified. Problems have been identified in
assays with von Willebrand factor and the suitability of the current
standard was under review. EDQM had started to develop methods
in the clinical field such as neutralization tests for unwanted antibod-
ies to biological therapeutics and to evaluate, if possible, a single
standard method for the evaluation of immune responses to vaccine
candidates in the case of a pandemic of influenza. A wish was ex-
pressed for the EDQM and the Committee to collaborate in the most
efficient way possible.

Proposed disestablishment of the International Reference

Reagent for hepatitis B vaccine
The International Reference Reagent, NIBSC code 85/65, for plasma
derived hepatitis B vaccine was established in 1987 (WHO Technical
Report Series, No. 760). This reference reagent has no assigned
unitage and, although the potency of successive production batches of
a given product should give consistent potencies relative to this mate-
rial, this material cannot be used for the establishment and calibration
of secondary standards. There has never been a minimum potency
requirement based on the use of this material. Furthermore, it has
always been emphasized that hepatitis B vaccines which are suitable
for use in humans need not be qualitatively equivalent to this refer-
ence reagent. Despite this, some vaccine manufacturers have pro-
moted the use of their vaccine by saying that its potency is as good or
better than the International Reference Reagent.
The International Reference Reagent no longer serves a useful func-
tion. Therefore the Committee agreed with a proposal (WHO/BS/
04.1991) that the International Reference Reagent for hepatitis B
vaccine be discontinued.

Antigens and related substances

Smallpox vaccines — progress report on proposed second
International Standard
Smallpox as an endemic infection was officially declared eradicated by
WHO in 1980. Since that time the usage and production of smallpox
vaccine, of which vaccinia virus is the active component, has dramati-
cally declined. However, the fact that reference stocks of smallpox E

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 virus were kept after its official eradication and the possibility that it
may emerge as a weapon of bioterrorism has led many governments to
retain vaccine stocks for emergency use. In the light of recent world
events, many governments have reassessed their reserves of smallpox
vaccine and in some cases are promoting renewed production and
licensing of the vaccine. Although the re-establishment of vaccine
production is technically feasible and is under way in some countries,
suitable reference materials for the standardization and control of
smallpox vaccines are now in short supply.
The first International Reference Preparation for smallpox vaccine
was established in 1963 from the Lister strain of vaccinia virus pro-
duced on the flanks of sheep. At the time that the International
Reference Preparation was produced, cell-culture systems were much
less reliable than they are today. Studies conducted at NIBSC using
cell-culture plaque assays to assay vaccine materials also tested in
chorioallantoic membrane assays in eggs have indicated much greater
sensitivity for the cell culture methods, which, if properly validated,
could be acceptable assays for potency.
At the fifty-fourth meeting of the Committee, the report of a collabo-
rative study on the suitability of candidates to replace the current
International Reference Preparation (WHO/BS/03.1977) had been
evaluated. Two suitable candidate preparations had been identified
for use as replacements. However, consistent with the proposal from
the study participants, the Committee noted that the current Interna-
tional Reference Preparation still has acceptable potency and that as
existing stocks of the current preparation are sufficient for the time
being, its replacement was not urgent. The Committee thus agreed to
defer any decision about replacement pending generation of further
information, including stability data and information about rate of
supply. Stability studies had been carried out on the two candidate
replacements (WHO/BS/04.1990). Stability at the recommended stor-
age temperature (−20 °C) was good for both candidates and for the
current International Reference Preparation — showing no loss in
activity over a period of 591 days. At higher temperatures, 37 °C and
60 °C, both candidates showed equivalent losses of activity over a
given time period, although both appeared to be less stable than the
current International Reference Preparation. At 4 °C there were
small but consistent losses in activity after storage for periods of up to
280 days.
At the time of reporting, stocks of the International Reference Prepa-
ration stood at 375 ampoules. Usage over the preceding 18 months
E had been very slow; no samples had been requested since April 2004.

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 Therefore, even with a final archive of 100 ampoules to be retained,
there was still a sufficient stock of the current International Reference
Preparation to last for 5–6 years at the maximal usage rate observed
over the past 3–4 years.
The stability data generated in the collaborative study have indicated
that there may be differences between the candidate replacements for
the current International Reference Preparation in terms of their
thermostability. Therefore the Committee decided that the current
International Reference Preparation be retained for at least another
12 months and recommended that the stability study on the candi-
dates be extended to include assays in chorioallantoic membrane in
addition to cell culture assays if possible, and that the data be re-
viewed for discussion at the meeting of the Expert Committee on
Biological Standardization in 2005. The Committee did not agree with
a proposal to re-assign the potency value of the current International
Reference Preparation.

Yellow fever vaccine — outcome of an enquiry regarding the

use of the first International Standard
The collaborative study that established the suitability of the first
International Standard for Yellow Fever Vaccine indicated that the
use of the standard, which has been assigned a potency of 104.5 Inter-
national Units (IU) per ampoule, would markedly improve agree-
ment in results between laboratories.
The WHO requirements for potency of yellow fever vaccine require
that the titre of the vaccine should not be less than 1000 times the dose
that will kill 50% of mice (1000 LD50) or its equivalent in plaque-
forming units (PFU), in the dose recommended by the manufacturer
for use in humans. Each laboratory involved in testing the vaccine
potency should establish the relationship between mouse LD50 and
PFU potency. In some cases this was done many years ago and the
relationship may not necessarily be valid today.
An additional aim of the original study was to facilitate the replace-
ment of the expression of vaccine potency, currently mouse LD50,
with IU determined in plaque assays. It appeared from the correlation
curve established from the study data that a minimum potency deter-
mined in plaque assays of 4.0 log10 IU/0.5 ml relative to the candidate
standard would be equivalent to 3.0 log10 mouse LD50/0.5 ml, based on
the overall means of all laboratory results. However it was acknowl-
edged that this would have to be confirmed in a larger number of
plaque assays in which a standard calibrated against the first Interna-
tional Standard 99/616 is included. E

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 The aim of the current study (WHO/BS/04.1993) was to determine
whether the use of a minimum potency of 4.0 log10 IU/0.5 ml dose was
suitable as the minimum potency for yellow fever vaccines assayed in
plaque assays.
Eight participants submitted data from a total of 102 routine produc-
tion batches of vaccine. The data indicated that some of the vaccines
tested would have potencies less than 4.0 log10 IU/dose. All of these
vaccines currently meet the minimum WHO requirement of 1000
LD50 when plaque titres were converted to LD50 equivalents. Some
products also had values of less than 4.0 log10 IU after heating in the
accelerated degradation test.
The Committee was informed that additional data on vaccine batches
stored at the recommended temperature, and on vaccine tested for
stability would be collected over the following months. Manufactur-
ers would also be asked for any clinical trial data and information on
the minimum PFU or LD50 which results in seroconversion. Proposals
for the revision of the minimum potency requirements for yellow
fever vaccines would be submitted after consideration of these addi-
tional data.

Poliomyelitis vaccine, oral — second International Standard

Oral polio vaccine plays a pivotal role in the Global Polio Eradication
Programme and will continue to do so until eradication is complete.
Although the eradication programme is in its final phase the remain-
ing “hot spots” of endemic poliovirus circulation require large
amounts of OPV in the short to medium term. In the medium to long
term after eradication, there will also be a need to maintain stockpiles
of the vaccine to deal with any unexpected re-emergence of the virus.
The manufacture and control of this vaccine must therefore be main-
tained at the highest level to ensure that eradication succeeds, and
suitable standard preparations must therefore be available to ensure
that testing meets appropriate regulatory requirements.
The first International Standard for the potency estimation of OPV
was established in 1995. It has been used for the calibration of re-
gional working references and the in-house references of a number of
manufacturers and national control laboratories. The stocks of this
standard (NIBSC reference 85/569) are now very low and it is impera-
tive that a replacement be established soon to meet the demands of
the final stages of the polio eradication programme.
The potency of a trivalent OPV preparation as a candidate re-
E placement for the current International Standard was assessed by

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 a collaborative study (WHO/BS/04.1992). Thirteen laboratories
participated in the study, drawn from five OPV manufacturers and
eight national control authorities. Five samples were assessed in the
study; the candidate preparation was tested as a coded duplicate
sample. Laboratories were requested to use their own antisera for
neutralization in the test (of which nine elected to do so), but were
also asked to include monoclonal antibodies from NIBSC, which were
available as freeze-dried preparations. The overall levels of within-
assay variability and within laboratory variation indicated, as in previ-
ous studies, a high level of consistency within laboratories. For all
poliovirus types in all study samples the values obtained from the
different laboratories were all within 0.5 log10 tissue culture infectious
dose (TCID)50 of the mean — indicating good consistency between
laboratories. There were no problems encountered in the use of
the candidate second International Standard and all other samples
behaved as predicted.
The candidate second International Standard was produced at
NIBSC from three commercially produced monovalent bulks — one
of each poliovirus (Sabin) types 1, 2 and 3. The passage level of the
virus in the bulks is: Sabin original (SO) + 3 for type 1, SO + 3 for type
2 and a re-derived SO (RSO) + 3 for type 3. All three bulks used in the
production of this standard were produced on primary monkey cells.
Each of the monovalent bulks had previously been released by a
national control laboratory and can therefore be considered to be
in compliance with current licensing, pharmacopoeial and WHO
requirements.
The candidate standard is expected to show at least the same stability
as the current standard i.e. no loss of activity over 19 years of storage
at −70 °C.
The Committee recommended the establishment of the candidate
02/306 as the second International Standard for the potency testing of
trivalent OPV. The recommended potency for this preparation was
assigned as 7.51, 6.51, 6.87 and 7.66 log10 TCID50/ml for type 1, 2, 3 and
total virus content respectively.

Diphtheria toxin: proposed new use for an International

Standard
At its meeting in 2003 the Committee agreed that a reference diph-
theria toxin standard was required. The WHO International Standard
for Schick-test toxin (STT) was established in 1955 (WHO Technical
Report Series, No. 96). The intended use at that time was for determi-
nation of immune status to diphtheria by intradermal challenge. The E

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 need identified by the Committee in 2003 was for a standard for use in
cell-culture assays. The Committee was informed at the current meet-
ing that the preparation of a new, stable, freeze-dried WHO reference
standard for diphtheria toxin would require considerable time and
effort. The Committee was further informed that recent studies have
shown that STT had a defined diphtheria toxin activity, and high
real-time stability, with a toxin activity almost unchanged from that
recorded when it was originally made in the 1950s. The Committee
was therefore invited to consider a proposal (WHO/BS/04.2001) to
re-assign the use of STT diphtheria toxin to include use in cell-culture
assays for diphtheria toxin.
Cell-culture assay (Vero cell) is now an established method to
confirm the presence of diphtheria toxin, or conversely to confirm the
absence of toxin or to confirm the freedom from toxin reversion for
toxoids. A condition for use of the assay is that the sensitivity of the
test must be demonstrated to be not less than that of the guinea-pig
test. Because it is not possible to monitor the sensitivity of the
cell-culture assay by standardizing the assay conditions alone, the use
of an appropriate reference standard of known toxin activity and
stability is essential.
The Committee was also informed that STT toxin had recently been
included in a collaborative study that led to the establishment of the
first European Pharmacopoeia Biological Reference Preparation (EP
BRP) for Diphtheria Toxin to be used in cell-based assays of toxicity.
The toxin activity of the EP BRP and of STT formulations was
studied using the guinea-pig subcutaneous (lethal) and intradermal
(non-lethal) assays, as well as the in vitro Vero cell test.
The Committee noted however that STT was of relatively low toxicity
and did not meet the criteria for toxicity for Vero cells set by one
regional pharmacopoeia. The Committee also expressed concern that
contaminants in the preparation may influence the outcome of the cell
culture toxicity test. The Committee requested further information
on how these factors influenced the suitability of STT for the intended
new use. The Committee therefore recommended that the proposal
be deferred until further information was available, but nevertheless
reaffirmed the need for such a standard and requested that, in
addition to the reappraisal of STT, the possibility of making the
EP BRP available as an interim international reference reagent be
investigated.

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 Pertussis vaccine, whole cell — progress report on proposed
fourth International Standard
Although whole-cell pertussis vaccine has been largely replaced by
acellular pertussis vaccines in Japan, North America and Western
Europe, whole-cell pertussis vaccine is still widely used in many
developing countries and in some countries in Eastern Europe.
Therefore an international standard for whole cell pertussis vaccine
was still needed and was likely to be necessary for a considerable
time.
The current standard is the Third International Standard (ampoule
code 66/303) which was established in 1998 (WHO Technical Report
Series, No. 897). This material was originally prepared from the same
bulk material as the second International Standard, with which it was
included in a collaborative study, and its stability was confirmed by
subsequent study before its establishment in 1998.
A planned candidate replacement standard (ampoule code 94/532) is
currently available, and a collaborative study to compare this candi-
date with the Second International Standard (ampoule code 66/302)
was organized by the Statens Serum Institute, Copenhagen, Denmark
and carried out in 1995–1996, together with some preliminary stability
testing. In 1998, the remaining ampoules of this material (2790 am-
poules) were transferred to NIBSC together with the data from this
study.
However, in consideration of the requirement that the potency of the
preparation coded 94/532 should be checked in terms of the current
third International Standard to confirm continuity of unitage, the
Committee was asked to comment on a proposal for a further small-
scale study of the stability of the candidate replacement standard and
comparison of the candidate replacement standard with the current
third International Standard. The Committee agreed with this pro-
posal. Moreover, they requested that the International Laboratory
for Biological Standards investigate the feasibility of combining such
a study with a recently proposed study to evaluate the suitability of a
new regional reference standard to be developed in the WHO South-
East Asia Region.

Anti-pertussis typing-sera: WHO reference reagents for

serotypes 2 and 3
WHO has recommended that whole cell Bordetella pertussis vaccines
should contain strains expressing agglutinogen 2 (equivalent to Fim 2)
and agglutinogen 3 (equivalent to Fim 3) (WHO Technical Report
Series, No. 800, 1990). The identity of agglutinogen 1 is not known, E

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 but it is not appropriate for discriminating between B. pertussis iso-
lates as it does not vary. Monitoring of fimbrial expression is recom-
mended not only as a simple means for detecting changes in B.
pertussis populations, but also because fimbriae could be important
protective antigens.
Serotyping is one of the traditional methods used for typing B. pertus-
sis strains and serotyping with polyclonal antisera has been used
routinely for many years. However, comparison of serotyping results
between laboratories is difficult because of the different sera and
assays used. The outcome of a meeting held in May 1999 of laborato-
ries involved in epidemiological research on pertussis strains sug-
gested that it would be sensible to use monoclonal antibodies for
typing fimbriae.
The Committee was informed that preparations containing mono-
clonal antibodies to B. pertussis serotype 2 (coded 04/154) and sero-
type 3 fimbriae (coded 04/156) which are intended to be used for both
serotyping of clinical isolate strains and for monitoring the consis-
tency of pertussis vaccine production, have been obtained. They were
assessed using a standard pertussis strain panel in a collaborative
study by 11 laboratories in nine countries for their suitability to serve
as reference reagents for B. pertussis serotyping in two major meth-
ods, namely microplate agglutination and slide agglutination (WHO/
BS/04.1998). Rabbit polyclonal antibodies to fim 2 (coded 89/598) and
fim 3 (coded 89/600) were included as controls as these polyclonal
antibodies have been in use since 1989 as typing reagents for B.
pertussis serotype in the slide agglutination method. In parallel,
monoclonal antibodies produced from a second source of hybridoma
cell lines were also compared with preparations 04/154 and 04/156.
Under the recommended assay conditions, there was close concor-
dance between the results obtained by the different laboratories using
either method. Preparations 04/154 and 04/156 showed good specific-
ity in both typing methods (>90% sensitivity on the homologous
strains and <0.1% cross-reactivity). Monoclonal antibodies obtained
from the second source showed less sensitivity than preparations 04/
154 and 04/156.
On the basis of the results of this study, the Committee endorsed
establishment of the preparation of monoclonal antibody to fimbriae
2 (04/154) as the WHO Reference Reagent for B. pertussis serotype 2
and monoclonal antibody to fimbriae 3 (04/156) as the WHO
Reference Reagent for B. pertussis serotype 3. It was noted that
freeze-dried preparations were also under development and that the
suitability of these preparations as future International Standards
E would be evaluated.

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 Blood products and related substances
Anti-A and anti-B blood typing serum: proposed reference
reagents
The quality of blood grouping reagents is clearly an important factor
in ensuring safe blood transfusion, yet there is currently no appropri-
ate international standardization of anti-A or anti-B blood grouping
reagents. Suitable international reference reagents are needed to
ensure minimum standards of potency for such reagents. Although
WHO reference standards exist, a WHO consultation in 1999 con-
cluded that they were not relevant to the methods currently used by
immunohaematology laboratories. Accordingly, the preparation and
characterization of monoclonal antibody blood grouping reagents
was initiated by WHO for the development of new reference
materials.
A collaborative study to evaluate lyophilized monoclonal IgM anti-A
(code 03/188) and anti-B (code 03/164) preparations to determine an
appropriate dilution of the reconstituted contents to specify the
minimum acceptable potency of anti-A and anti-B blood grouping
reagents was reported to the Committee (WHO/BS/04.1999Add1).
The candidate reagents were evaluated against a wide range of com-
mercial anti-A and anti-B blood grouping reagents in an international
collaborative study involving 16 laboratories in nine countries. Data
were received from all 16 laboratories. These laboratories tested 23
different anti-A reagents, together with the candidate reference
reagent 03/188, and 25 different anti-B reagents together with the
candidate reference reagent 03/0164.
Considerable variations in haemagglutination end-point titres for
anti-A and anti-B activity were found between reagents and between
laboratories. Although the titres for each of the candidate reference
reagents showed less variation within a phenotype, the results
showed that, even when nominally using the same method, there
was wide variation between laboratories in the sensitivity of the
haemagglutination tests.
Most anti-A reagents would meet a minimum potency specification of
an eightfold dilution of reagent 03/188; most anti-B reagents would
meet a minimum potency specification of a fourfold dilution of re-
agent 03/164. However, adoption of these specifications might en-
courage many manufacturers to dilute their reagents more than they
do at present. Minimum potency specifications corresponding to a
four- or fivefold dilution of reconstituted reagent 03/188 and a two- or
threefold dilution of reagent 03/164 would be more in line with the
current quality of most anti-A and anti-B reagents, respectively, E

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 tested. International consensus on assignment of the most appropri-
ate dilution for 03/188 and 03/164 could not be reached by the study
participants.
The Committee took note of the report. Agreement on the
value assignment had however to be reached before the reagents
could be endorsed as WHO standard reagents. The study was
referred to a working group for this purpose. Advice on the impact
of the methodology used in the study would also be requested from
the working group, together with advice on revisions to the study
report.

Anti-D blood typing serum: first International Standard for

minimum potency of blood grouping reagents
The quality of blood-grouping reagents is clearly an important factor
in ensuring safe blood transfusion, yet there is currently no appropri-
ate international standardization of anti-D blood-grouping reagents.
Suitable international reference reagents are needed to ensure
minimum standards of potency of such reagents. Although a WHO
reference standard exists, a WHO consultation in 1999 concluded
that it was not relevant to the methods currently used by immuno-
haematology laboratories. Accordingly the preparation and charac-
terization of a monoclonal antibody blood-grouping reagent
was initiated by WHO for the development of a new reference
material.
A collaborative study evaluated a lyophilized monoclonal IgM anti-D
preparation (code 99/836) to determine an appropriate dilution of the
reconstituted contents to specify the minimum acceptable potency of
anti-D blood-grouping reagents. The candidate reference reagent was
evaluated against a wide range of commercial anti-D blood-grouping
reagents in an international collaborative study involving 20 laborato-
ries in 13 countries (WHO/BS/04.2000, WHO/BS/04.2000 Add.1 and
WHO/BS/04.2000 Rev.1).
Based on the data presented in the reports, reagent 99/836 was estab-
lished by WHO as the first International Standard for minimum po-
tency of anti-D blood-grouping reagents. An eightfold dilution of
reconstituted 99/836 should define the minimum potency of high-
protein anti-D blood grouping reagents and a threefold dilution
of reconstituted 99/836 should define the minimum potency of low-
protein anti-D blood-grouping reagents. Manufacturers should en-
sure that, in parallel haemagglutination titrations, their anti-D blood
grouping reagents are at least as potent as 99/836 when reconstituted
E and diluted as described.

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 The Committee noted that stocks of 99/836 had been shared with
CBER/FDA for distribution as the United States Minimum Potency
Reference Reagent.

Factor V Leiden, first International Genetic Reference Panel

The factor V Leiden polymorphism results in a slower inactivation
rate of activated factor V by activated protein C and it is associated
with a 5–10-fold increase in the risk of venous thrombosis in heterozy-
gotes and a 50–80-fold increase in homozygotes. The highest preva-
lence of the mutation has been found in European populations of
Caucasian origin. In contrast the mutation appears to be rare among
Chinese and absent in Africans and Japanese. As a consequence of
the high incidence of the mutation, testing for factor V Leiden is one
of the most frequent human genotyping tests performed in clinical
laboratories. The frequency of testing is likely to increase as research
explores links with proposed risk factors such as a previous history of
thrombosis, use of oral contraceptives or hormone replacement
therapy or proposed links between inherent genetic susceptibility for
venous thrombosis and air travel. External quality assurance schemes
have shown that errors in genotyping on factor V Leiden do occur.
These errors can have a significant and long-lasting impact on the
patient, particularly because genotyping tests are usually carried out
only once on any one patient.
Most laboratories use blood or extracted DNA from samples from
patients with the known polymorphism as their in-assay references.
Currently there is no guaranteed supply of a stable and reliable refer-
ence material for this polymorphism and there is an urgent need for
such materials. A panel of genomic DNA (gDNA) was extracted
from immortalized cell lines produced by Human herpesvirus 4
(Epstein–Barr virus) transformation of blood from donors who were
known to carry the wild-type, homozygote and heterozygote geno-
types for factor V Leiden, with a view to evaluating the suitability of
these materials for inclusion in an internationally accepted Genetic
Reference Panel for Factor V Leiden.
Forty-one laboratories from 16 countries took part in an international
collaborative study to evaluate the suitability of the proposed panel
of gDNA samples (WHO/BS/04.1997). The participants used 32
techniques with different underlying principles and within these
techniques different individual protocols. To assess the consistency
of the panel’s performance, the participants were also requested
to carry out the study over a period of 3 days and using different
operators. E

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 Preliminary accelerated degradation studies showed no detectable
degradation in any of the samples by quantitative polymerase chain
reaction.
Based on the results presented, the Committee endorsed the three
human gDNA preparations 03/254 (FV wild type), 03/260 (FVL ho-
mozygote) and 03/248 (FVL heterozygote) as the First International
Genetic Reference Panel for Factor V Leiden, Human gDNA. No
unitage was assigned to the individual panel members. The materials
provide a source of well characterized genotypes and are intended for
use in the validation of new techniques or new test kits, or for validating
existing techniques after a change in reagents, operator or equipment.

Blood coagulation factor XIII, plasma: first International

Standard
Factor XIII (FXIII) is a transglutaminase, which covalently stabilizes
a fibrin clot by cross- linking polymerized fibrin. FXIII is essential for
maintaining haemostasis as it increases both the mechanical stability
of the fibrin clot and resistance to plasmin degradation. Deficiencies
in FXIII can lead to a severe bleeding diathesis and most patients
with inherited FXIII deficiencies require lifelong supplementation
therapy, primarily with FXIII concentrates. Currently there is only
one manufacturer supplying plasma-derived FXIII concentrates, al-
though a recombinant FXIII product is being developed by another
manufacturer.
Measurement of FXIII levels is important in both patients’ plasma
and in concentrates. A study has shown that in some laboratories
there is a high percentage of misclassification of FXIII deficiency,
which clearly indicates the need for standardization.
FXIII is also a constituent of the fibrinogen component of fibrin
sealants and the measurement of FXIII in fibrinogen components has
been complicated because high fibrinogen concentrations give rise to
variabilities in measurement.
Two main methodological approaches for the measurement of FXIII
activity are in use. However, there is a clear need to standardize these
methods to minimize the possibility of variations in procedure being
contributory factors in discrepant observations. To date no reference
preparations for measurement of FXIII have been established.
An international collaborative study, in which 23 laboratories in 10
countries were invited to calibrate a proposed International Standard
for factor XIII (FXIII) plasma, was reported to the Committee
E (WHO/BS/04.1994 Rev.1). The participants included 14 academic

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 institutions, seven manufacturers and two national control labora-
tories but only 10 laboratories provided data. This study also
investigated the relationships between measurements of FXIII in con-
centrates compared with those in plasma and between measurement
of FXIII activity and FXIII antigen levels.
Estimates of FXIII potency for the candidate plasma standard Y
(02/206) showed good agreement between laboratories. Furthermore
there was negligible difference in potencies determined by the two
methods currently in use.
Accelerated degradation studies showed that the proposed standard
is very stable, with a predicted loss of activity per year of less than
0.06% at the recommended storage temperature of −20 °C. The stabil-
ity/accelerated degradation study showed that this candidate plasma
material is sufficiently stable to serve as a WHO standard.
The proposed International Standard was prepared from a pool of 17
healthy donors. All units of plasma were tested and found to be
negative for hepatitis B surface antigen, antibodies to HIV-1 and
HIV-2 and antibodies to hepatitis C.
The Committee endorsed the preparation Y (NIBSC code 02/206) as
the first International Standard for Factor XIII plasma and assigned a
value of 0.91 IU/ampoule for Factor XIII potency to it.

Immunoglobulin, intravenous: WHO reference reagents for

anti-D content
The Committee was informed of the results of an international col-
laborative study to standardize and control haemagglutination tests
for anti-D antibody in normal intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG)
(WHO/BS/04.2002). Twenty laboratories located in Australia,
Europe and the USA participated in the collaborative study. A
lyophilized IVIG preparation containing anti-D and a lyophilized
negative control IVIG preparation were evaluated for their suitability
as reference reagents.
The atypical presence of anti-D in IVIG has been linked to adverse
reactions in recipients, including haemolysis, although at present
there are no universal specifications or reference reagents to control
the level of anti-D in IVIG or to standardize haemagglutination
testing methodology. Even a relatively low level of contamination
with anti-D can be significant with respect to the amount of IVIG
infused into patients, especially if repeat doses are administered.
However, detecting anti-D in IVIG using conventional indirect
antiglobulin tests can be problematical as the high concentration of E

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 immunoglobulin can neutralize the antiglobulin reagent resulting in
false negatives, or result in rouleaux formation.
Using the specified direct microtitre-based haemagglutination
method, there was reasonable consistency in titres for most prepara-
tions within most laboratories. However, a wide variation in hae-
magglutination titres between laboratories for three of the four
samples was found. Correcting the titres of the samples relative to
those of the proposed reference reagent reduced the interlaboratory
variability and increased the frequency of the mode titres of three out
of four samples. The indirect antiglobulin tests also showed wide
variability between laboratories and were less sensitive than the
direct method in four laboratories.
The results show that use of the reference reagents would help to
overcome variability in haemagglutination tests between laboratories
and also to ensure that such tests are sufficiently sensitive to detect
anti-D in IVIG products. The EDQM and the CBER have recently
taken the necessary steps to implement a test and a limit for anti-D in
IVIG products. The establishment of standard preparations as WHO
International Reference Reagents would facilitate global standard-
ization of haemagglutination testing for anti-D in IVIG.
Based on the data in the report the Committee endorsed the Anti-D
in IVIG Positive Control Reference Reagent, 02/228, and the Anti-D
in IVIG Negative Control Reference Reagent, 02/226, as WHO Ref-
erence Reagents for use in standardizing haemagglutination testing
methodology for anti-D in IVIG and ensuring that such tests are
sufficiently sensitive to detect anti-D in IVIG. Eight hundred and fifty
ampoules each of 02/228 and 02/226 are available for distribution as
WHO Reference Reagents.

Cytokines, growth factors and endocrinological

substances
Progress report on follow-up from the seventh WHO
Consultation on cytokines, growth factors and
endocrinological substances
The seventh WHO Informal consultation on Standards for Cytokines,
Growth Factors and Endocrinological Substances was held at the
NIBSC, Potters Bar, Herts., England, from 20–21 October 2003. Sev-
eral issues relating to biological standardization and the establish-
ment of new reference materials were discussed and subsequently
presented at the fifty-fourth meeting of the Expert Committee on
E Biological Standardization, held from 17–21 November 2003. The

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 Committee took note from a status report (WHO/BS/04.2003) of the
follow-up activities it had recommended.
The Committee reaffirmed that WHO should become more involved
in the issue of standardized evaluations of unwanted immune re-
sponses to therapeutic proteins. They requested that a workshop on
this topic be organized in conjunction with the next meeting of the
WHO Working Group on Standards for Cytokines, Growth Factors
and Endocrinological Substances. It was also reported to the Com-
mittee that data to evaluate a proposed method to harmonize the
calculation and reporting of interferon neutralizing antibody tests
may become available during 2005 and, if so, the outcome of this
evaluation would be reported to the Committee.
The Committee also considered the outcome of an enquiry initiated
by the Secretariat in response to a request to re-assign the potency of
the Second WHO International Standard for human interferon alpha,
lymphoblastoid N1, 95/568 to compensate for an error made during
the calibration of a national standard. Consistent with the responses
to the enquiry, and although aware of the difficulties that had arisen
due to the miscalibration, the Committee decided, on principle, that
the value assignment to the International Standard should not be
changed. The Secretariat was requested to follow up the matter with
the Member State concerned to determine what other course of
action may be appropriate.

Diagnostic reagents
Global measurement standards for in vitro diagnostic
devices: principles and priorities
The Committee was informed about a Consultation held in Geneva
from June 7–8, 2004 and the conclusions drawn by the participants.
The WHO Consultation had been held to discuss how the concepts of
metrological traceability and measurement uncertainty could be
applied to biological reference standards with values assigned in arbi-
trary units of biological activity. Data from WHO collaborative stud-
ies on selected blood coagulation and hormone protein standards and
the Second International Standard for hepatitis B surface antigen
were considered as models for discussion. The Committee adopted
the report of the meeting because it was an important milestone in
the resolution of key issues of principle that were subsequently
incorporated into the revised recommendations on the preparation,
characterization and establishment of international biological
standards (see Annex 2). E

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 The Committee was informed of the In Vitro Devices Directive
(IVDD) of the European Union (98/79). This governs the use of
diagnostics within the European Union from January 2004. Materials
whose use affects patient treatment must be “CE marked” or be
declared “higher order” references by the European Commission. It
is assumed that all International Standards established by WHO
would be categorized as higher order reference materials. The
Committee was informed of the pressing need for a formal written
declaration to this effect from the Commission covering all such
preparations, without which the WHO International Laboratory at
the NIBSC may be in breach of European law if it distributes new
standards which might conceivably be used for diagnostic purposes.
Standards in the distribution pipeline (i.e. those established before
December 2003), would not be affected until December 2005. The
standards established at the present meeting would be considered by
the NIBSC as internationally certified and would be issued during
2005. Urgent discussions continue on a bilateral basis between the EU
and WHO to try and resolve this issue.
WHO would give priority to diagnostic tests for infections such as
HIV, hepatitis B and hepatitis C and the high-risk in vitro diagnostic
devices and continue its collaboration with the other international
standard-setting organizations and associations. The Committee rec-
ommended that the participants in this collaborative work should
include experts from the manufacturers and from associations such as
the International Society of Blood Transfusion.

Diagnostic tests for anti-hepatitis C virus: proposal for a

reference standard and preliminary results
Information on the status of different assays for anti-hepatitis C virus
(HCV) and the problems of establishing suitable reference materials
was provided. A novel approach for WHO to antibody standardiza-
tion was to evaluate the suitability of human antibody preparations
processed to be monospecific for a target antigen. The initial results of
a feasibility study of this approach for anti-HCV standardization were
reported. One problem identified, even after immune absorption of
the material, was that antibodies interfering with other antigens still
remained in the preparation. The conditions of the immune absorp-
tion and the ammonium sulfate desorption may have contributed to
some of the results obtained. The Committee recommended that
further work be done to explore this approach and the continued
expertise and contributions of manufacturers would be extremely
valuable in collaboration with the work of the International
E Laboratory.

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 © World Health Organization
WHO Technical Report Series, No. 932, 2006

Annex 1
Guidelines for the production and quality control of
candidate tetravalent dengue virus vaccines (live)

This document provides guidance to national regulatory authorities

(NRAs) and vaccine manufacturers on the production and quality control
of candidate live attenuated dengue virus vaccines by outlining the inter-
national regulatory expectations for product characterization. It should be
read in conjunction with the WHO guidelines on nonclinical evaluation of
vaccines (1), and the WHO guidelines on clinical evaluation of vaccines:
regulatory expectations (2), to gain an understanding of the whole pro-
cess of vaccine evaluation. Clinical evaluation of vaccines against dengue
presents special challenges and WHO has developed specific guidance
on clinical testing programmes (3), which should also be consulted. As
candidate live attenuated dengue virus vaccines are still under develop-
ment, the following text is presented in the form of guidelines rather than
recommendations. Guidelines allow greater flexibility than recommenda-
tions with respect to expected future developments in the field. The
document is thus provided for guidance to health administrators.

Introduction 44

General considerations 45

Part A. Control of production 48

A.1 Definitions 48
A.2 Viruses for use in candidate vaccine production 51
A.3 General manufacturing requirements 52
A.4 Production control 52
A.5 Filling and containers 66
A.6 Control tests on final product 66
A.7 Records 67
A.8 Samples 68
A.9 Labelling 68
A.10 Distribution and shipping 68
A.11 Storage and expiry date 69

Part B. National control requirements 69

Authors 69

References 71 E

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 Introduction
In response to interest from many countries in the development of
candidate live attenuated dengue virus vaccines, preliminary draft
guidelines on production and quality control specifications for tet-
ravalent dengue vaccine (live) were developed by a small drafting
group established by WHO. These were presented to the WHO Ex-
pert Committee on Biological Standardization at its forty-eighth
meeting in 1997 (4). The Committee advised that the field of dengue
virus vaccine development needed to progress further before it would
be appropriate for WHO to develop guidance on technical specifica-
tions for these vaccines. Since that time WHO had established the
Task Force on Clinical Trials of Dengue Vaccines, and at the second
meeting of this group, at Denver, Colorado, in November 2002, it was
considered timely by the experts present for WHO to recommence
the development of the production and quality control guidelines.
The WHO Secretariat agreed and convened a small drafting group to
review the previous draft and to advise on what changes should be
made. The drafting group met in Geneva from 20–21 March 2003,
reviewed the original document and, based on the conclusions from
that meeting, subsequently developed a new draft. This draft was
discussed in detail at a WHO consultation held in Philadelphia, USA,
from 2–3 December 2003, and the current version of the document
was prepared by the WHO Secretariat, taking into account the views
expressed at that meeting (5) and the views of the fifty-fifth meeting
of the Expert Committee on Biological Standardization.

The scope of this document covers candidate live attenuated tetrava-

lent dengue virus vaccines. The aim of vaccination against dengue
virus infection is to induce immunity against all four serotypes in one
series of inoculations. The information available to the WHO Task
Force on Clinical Trials for Dengue Vaccines in 2004 was that two
tetravalent vaccine candidates had been generated by taking original
patient isolates of each serotype and passaging these isolates in dog
primary kidney cells to attenuate the viruses. Extensive testing has
been done to define the attenuation phenotype for each of the vaccine
candidates. Vaccine formulations are being developed based on the
optimal degree of attenuation and immunogenicity. A third vaccine
candidate had been generated from a molecular clone of dengue virus
type 4. This virus contains a 30-nucleotide deletion in the 3′ non-
coding region that attenuates the virus. To generate a tetravalent
vaccine, chimeric vaccine candidates that contain the structural re-
gion of the other three dengue serotypes in a dengue virus type 4
E backbone containing the 30-nucleotide deletion are being prepared

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 for clinical development. In addition the 30-nucleotide deletion
has been introduced into the homologous region of dengue types 1,
2 and 3 to generate additional attenuated vaccine candidates. The
fourth vaccine candidate was a chimeric vaccine made by expressing
the dengue virus structural proteins, prM and E in a molecular
clone of the yellow fever virus vaccine 17D backbone. A combination
tetravalent vaccine was in development, which will have all four
dengue serotypes, represented as chimeric dengue–yellow fever
vaccines.
Clinical trial data (6, 7) showed that vaccine candidates have induced
human immune responses. Protection was also being measured in a
human challenge study that was under way for at least one vaccine
candidate. Additional data are required to define an acceptable level
of immune response that correlates with protective immunity to can-
didate dengue vaccines. The information available to WHO sug-
gested that the reactogenicity of the vaccine candidates being tested
varied. To obtain maximum public health benefits, this vaccine was
envisaged for use both in children and adults, thus it was important to
establish and understand the safety profile and reactogenicity in all
target age groups.

General considerations
An important consideration for the safety of any vaccine is the full
passage history of the seed materials used for vaccine development.
The purpose is to identify all substrates through which the seed mate-
rials had been passed to aid the development of appropriate
programmes for testing for adventitious agents. The early passage
history for the candidate dengue vaccines varies, but may include
monkey kidney cells, or mosquito intermediates, or mouse brain or
dog primary kidney cells, or a combination of these substrates. It will
be essential to show that the virus seeds are free of adventitious
agents relevant to the animal species used and from the substrates
used in the derivation of the seeds.
A risk assessment for transmissible spongiform encephalopathies
(TSE) would need to be included for the seed materials. The revised
WHO Guidelines on transmissible spongiform encephalopathies in
relation to biological and pharmaceutical products (8) provide guid-
ance on risk assessments for master and working seeds and should be
consulted.
All of the vaccine candidates are claimed to be attenuated. However,
for some vaccine candidates, this claim may be based on limited E

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 clinical experience in humans as laboratory markers of attenuation
are not well-defined. This is an area where further work is urgently
needed to help assess consistency of production, especially when new
viral seeds are produced. Potential laboratory markers include the
sequence information on the seed viruses; viraemia levels in monkeys;
and ability to replicate in or be transmitted by vector mosquitoes.
In any laboratory test, the aim would be to show that a new seed
material was similar to the previous seed and that each could be
distinguished from the parent virus. Multiple passage of virus seed
materials under defined conditions may be helpful to generate valida-
tion data on the chosen method. Studies on consistency of production
would need to take into account the variability inherent in RNA virus
replication and assess the presence of minority populations, as re-
vealed for example by the occurrence of mixed plaque phenotypes or
mixed base signals in sequencing studies. If minority populations are
detected it will be necessary to assess their biological importance, for
example, by carefully comparing the level of heterogeneity (e.g.
plaque size) between the master or working seed and higher passage
levels (e.g. clinical trial material).
The need for a neurovirulence test should be based on evidence (2)
either that the natural infection is neurotropic or that selection for
neurotropism could have occurred during the passage history of the
vaccine candidates. For example, this may occur if the attenuation
process involved passage through central nervous system (CNS)
tissue. Furthermore, if a neurovirulence test is indicated, any test
specified should be able to reliably distinguish between acceptable
and unacceptable preparations.
Because dengue viruses are not regarded as encephalitic, a
neurovirulence test for each batch is not justified, and there is no need
to test each working seed. However, it would be prudent to test at
least the master seed to show that the derivation process for the seed
did not lead to a change in the inherently attenuated neurovirulence
phenotype of dengue viruses. For chimeric dengue candidate vaccines
where one component of the chimera is derived from a virus with
neurovirulence potential, such as dengue–yellow fever constructs,
then more extensive neurovirulence testing may be required.
Experience to date with dengue neurovirulence testing is based on
using either the methodology described for live attenuated poliovirus
(9) or for yellow fever vaccine (10). It is proposed that, because
both yellow fever and dengue viruses are Flaviviruses, the
specifications for the yellow fever test be applied to dengue virus
vaccines in the future. Thus a neurovirulence test at the level of the
E master seed is included.

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 Two candidate vaccines are being developed in Vero cells. These are
among the first examples of live-attenuated injectable vaccines for
human use being developed in Vero cells. The existing WHO guid-
ance on residual levels of cellular DNA (11, 12) is incorporated into
this draft. It is recognized that this specification will require that either
a virus purification step and/or a DNA removal step be included in
the production process.
For vaccines being developed in fetal rhesus lung diploid cells, exist-
ing WHO recommendations are applicable (11).
Although continuous cell lines or diploid cells are generally the pre-
ferred cell substrates for vaccine production, at least one candidate
vaccine was produced in dog primary kidney cells. These cells are
passaged a limited number of times and banked prior to use. Thus it
is possible to conduct extensive characterization of adventitious
agents in the cells. The principles of extensive testing of source ani-
mals plus extensive testing of each batch of cells, using as an example
the guidance established for primary hamster cells for production of
live attenuated Japanese encephalitis vaccine (13), have been applied
in this document. Also the conclusions of a WHO Task Force meeting
on cell substrates, which considered the issue of dog primary kidney
cells (14) have been taken into account. Thus, for example, testing for
canine retroviruses is included.
The infectivity of each serotype in a tetravalent mixture should be
established and the plaque or focus-forming assay is specified for
determinations of infectivity. Candidate titration standards do not
exist at present and WHO should consider developing such reagents
and their subsequent characterization by international collaborative
study.
The thermal stability of the final tetravalent freeze-dried product
should be determined in an appropriate stability study. This
study should determine the thermal stability of each serotype in the
tetravalent mixture. In addition to the stability of the freeze-dried
product, the stability of the liquid vaccine after reconstitution should
also be studied. Stability testing of intermediates, such as monovalent
virus harvests prior to formulation as final tetravalent vaccine, is
required in some countries. WHO is developing further guidance on
this issue.
Based on the results of the stability testing programme, an acceler-
ated degradation test should be conducted on each new batch of
vaccine. This is to show the consistency of manufacture of the final
stabilized formulation. For consistency with the testing done on other E

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 vaccines the accelerated degradation test should be done at 37 °C for
1 week. A specification for the maximum allowable loss of titre during
this period should be confirmed on the basis of experience yet to be
accumulated.
Considerations for vectored vaccines for human use have been
reviewed by WHO (15) and the general principles identified
should be applied to the vaccine candidates derived by molecular
methods.
Nonclinical testing of candidate dengue vaccines should follow con-
ventional procedures (1), but in addition should address the issue of
enhancement of antibody-mediated disease. There are no models that
can be recommended at present, so each testing programme will need
to be developed on a case-by-case basis. In addition, appropriate
follow-up of vaccinees participating in human clinical trials for 3–5
years is recommended (3).
Theoretical concerns have been raised about adverse ecological
events that may arise from recombination between a live attenuated
dengue virus vaccine and a wild-type flavivirus (16). Scientific consid-
erations show however that the likelihood of recombination between
a wild-type flavivirus and a vaccine flavivirus is much less than that of
recombination between two wild-type flavivirus. There is no evidence
for generation of problematic recombinant flaviviruses (17). Dual
infection laboratory studies between vaccine and wild-type strains are
not recommended because the predictive value of such studies would
be low (18).

Part A. Control of production

A.1 Definitions
A.1.1 International name and proper name
Although dengue vaccines are not yet licensed, the provision of
a suggested international name at this early stage of development
will aid harmonization of nomenclature if licensure is obtained. The
international name should be “Live attenuated tetravalent dengue
virus vaccine” or “Live attenuated tetravalent dengue–yellow
fever virus chimeric vaccine” or “Live attenuated tetravalent dengue–
dengue 4 virus chimeric vaccine”. The proper name should be the
equivalent to the international name in the language of the country of
origin.
The use of the international name should be limited to vaccines that
E satisfy the specifications formulated below.

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 A.1.2 Descriptive definition
A candidate live attenuated dengue virus vaccine should be a sterile,
aqueous suspension of the four serotypes of dengue vaccine strains, or
viral vectors that express the four dengue serotypes, and which have
been grown individually in mammalian cells. At least three types of
dengue vaccine are in development. These are as follows:
• Live attenuated tetravalent dengue virus vaccine is a preparation
of combined live attenuated dengue-1, dengue-2, dengue-3 and
dengue-4 viruses grown in a suitable cell culture.
• Live attenuated tetravalent dengue–yellow fever virus chimeric
vaccine is a preparation of combined live attenuated chimeric
viruses, based on the live attenuated yellow fever virus vaccine and
each expressing dengue-1, dengue-2, dengue-3 or dengue-4 virus
envelopes.
• Live attenuated tetravalent dengue–dengue 4 virus chimeric
vaccine is a preparation of combined live attenuated chimeric
viruses, based on the live attenuated dengue-4 vector and
each expressing dengue-1, dengue-2, dengue-3 or dengue-4 virus
envelopes.
The preparation should satisfy all of the specifications given below.
Live tetravalent dengue vaccine is blended with an appropriate
stabilizer and may be freeze-dried.

A.1.3 International reference materials

No international reference materials are available at present, al-
though candidate antiserum preparations to calibrate the neutralizing
antibody response in vaccinees are under evaluation in a WHO
collaborative studya.

A.1.4 Terminology
The definitions given below apply to the terms as used in these guide-
lines. They may have different meanings in other contexts.

Candidate vaccine
A vaccine under development which is used in human clinical trials to
assess its safety and efficacy.

Cell seed
A quantity of well-characterized cells of human or animal origin
stored frozen in liquid nitrogen in aliquots of uniform composition
a
The 1st WHO Reference Regent for anti-dengue antibodies was established in 2005 by
the 56th meeting of the Expert Committee on Biological Standardization. This material
was assigned a unitage of 100 units per serotyse. E

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 derived from a single tissue or cell, one or more of which would be
used for the production of a master cell bank.

Cell substrates
A number of cell cultures derived from the same pool of cells, pro-
cessed and prepared together.

Filling lot
A collection of sealed final containers of finished candidate vaccine
that are homogeneous with respect to the risk of contamination
during filling and freeze-drying. All the final containers must, there-
fore, have been filled from one vessel of final bulk in one working
session and freeze-dried under standardized conditions in a common
chamber.

Final bulk
The homogeneous finished tetravalent virus suspension prepared
from one or more clarified virus pools in the vessel from which the
final containers are filled.

Focus-forming unit (FFU)

The smallest quantity of virus suspension that can be defeated using
dengue-specific antisera in monolayer cell cultures.

Master cell bank

A quantity of fully characterized cells of human, animal or other
origin stored frozen at −70 °C or below in aliquots of uniform compo-
sition, one or more of which would be used for the production of a
manufacturer’s working cell bank.

Master seed lot

A quantity of virus derived from an original isolate, processed at the
same time to assure a uniform composition and having been charac-
terized to the extent necessary to support developing the working
seed lot. The characterized master seed lot is used for the preparation
of working seed lots.

Plaque-forming unit (PFU)

The smallest quantity of virus suspension that will produce a plaque in
monolayer cell cultures.

Single harvests
A quantity of virus suspension derived from the batch of cell substrate
that was inoculated with the same working seed lot and processed
E together in a single production run.

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 Working cell bank (WCB)
A quantity of cells derived from one or more ampoules of the master
cell bank and of uniform composition, stored frozen at −70 °C or
below in aliquots, one or more of which would be used for production
purposes.
In normal practice a master cell bank is expanded by serial subculture
up to a passage number (or population doubling, as appropriate)
selected by the manufacturer and approved by the national authority.
The cells are combined into one pool distributed into ampoules and
preserved cryogenically to form the WCB.

Working seed lot

A quantity of virus of uniform composition, fully characterized, de-
rived from a master seed lot. The working seed lot is used for the
production of candidate vaccine lots.

Virus pool
A homogenous pool of single harvests collected into a single vessel
before clarification.

A.2 Viruses for use in candidate vaccine production

A.2.1 Virus strains
The strains of dengue-1, dengue-2, dengue-3 and dengue-4 viruses
used in the production of candidate tetravalent dengue vaccine
should be identified by historical records, which will include informa-
tion on the origin of each strain; method of attenuation; whether the
strains have been biologically cloned prior to generation of the master
seed; genetic sequence information; and the passage level at which
attenuation for humans was demonstrated by clinical trials. Clinical
signs, viraemia, and the immune response after human immunization
with each dengue virus serotype must be determined to facilitate
development of acceptable criteria for attenuation and immunogenic-
ity of the vaccine viruses.

A.2.2 Approval
The four vaccine strains of dengue virus used in the production of
candidate vaccine should have been shown to be safe by appropriate
laboratory tests (see section A.4 of these guidelines) as well as by tests
in susceptible humans. Only strains approved by the national regula-
tory authority should be used. E

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 A.2.3 Establishment of immunizing dose
The immunizing dose, initially in PFU or FFU, of each serotype in the
tetravalent vaccine that induces seroconversion when susceptible in-
dividuals are immunized with the tetravalent vaccine, should be es-
tablished in a dose–response study. Any potential interference or
potentiation between the serotypes in the plaque- or focus-forming
assay should be evaluated prior to establishing this value. When inter-
national reference standards become available, the immunizing dose
should be expressed relative to the standard. Expression of doses as a
relative potency is encouraged because experience shows that this
reduces variation between laboratories. The immunizing dose should
also serve as a basis for establishing parameters for stability and
expiry date.

A.3 General manufacturing requirements

The principles of good manufacturing practices for pharmaceutical
and biological products, as appropriate to the different stages
of vaccine development, should be applied by establishments manu-
facturing candidate tetravalent dengue vaccine (22), with the addition
of the following:
Separate manufacturing areas for each of the four serotypes as well as
tetravalent vaccine formulation are required. Alternatively, manu-
facturing areas may be used on a campaign basis with adequate clean-
ing between campaigns to ensure that cross-contamination does not
occur.
Production steps and quality control operations involving mani-
pulations of live virus should be conducted under biosafety level
BSL 2.

A.4 Production control

A.4.1 Control of source materials
A.4.1.1 Cell cultures for virus production
A.4.1.1.1 Conformity with WHO requirements
Dengue viruses used in the production of tetravalent dengue vaccine
should be propagated in cell substrate in conformity with the WHO
requirements for use of animal cells as in vitro substrate for the
production of biologicals (11, 12) and approved by the national regu-
latory authority. All information on the source and method of prepa-
ration of the cell culture system used should be made available to the
E national regulatory authority (11).

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 A.4.1.1.2 Types of cell culture
Dengue vaccine candidates have been produced in fetal rhesus lung
diploid cells, in continuous cell lines and in dog primary kidney cells.
For fetal rhesus lung diploid and continuous cells, sections A.4.1.1.3
and A.4.1.1.4 should apply; for dog primary kidney cells, section
A.4.1.1.5 should apply to the source materials. Section A.4.1.1.6
applies to all types of cell culture.

A.4.1.1.3 Master cell bank and working cell bank

The use of a cell line such as fetal rhesus lung diploid cells or Vero
cells for the manufacture of dengue vaccines should be based on the
cell bank system. The cell seed should be approved by the national
regulatory authority. The maximum number of passages (or popula-
tion doublings) allowable between the cell seed and the WCB should
be established by the national regulatory authority. Additional tests
for Vero cells include:
— propagation of the MCB or WCB cells to or beyond the maximum
in vitro age; and
— examination for the presence of retroviruses and tumorigenicity in
an animal test system (11).
WHO has established a cell bank of Vero cells characterized in ac-
cordance with the requirements in the report of the WHO Expert
Committee on Biological Standardization (11), which is available to
manufacturers as a well-characterized starting material (12) for
preparation of their own master and working cell seeds on application
to the Coordinator, Quality Assurance and Safety of Biologicals,
WHO, Geneva, Switzerland.

A.4.1.1.4 Identity test

The master cell bank should be characterized according to the
Requirements for animal cells lines used as substrates for the produc-
tion of biologicals (11), as appropriate to continuous cells or fetal
rhesus diploid cells.
The WCB should be identified by means, inter alia, of biochemical
(e.g. isoenzyme analysis), immunological, and cytogenetic marker
tests, approved by the national regulatory authority.

A.4.1.1.5 Sources of dog kidney cells

If cultures of dog kidney cells are used for the propagation of dengue
vaccine viruses, dogs less than 2 months old may be used as the source
of kidneys for cell culture. Only dog stock approved by the national E

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 regulatory authority should be used as the source of tissue and should
be derived from a closed, healthy colony. A closed colony is a group
of animals sharing a common environment and having their own
caretakers who have no contact with other animal colonies. The ani-
mals are tested according to a defined programme to ensure freedom
from specified pathogens and their antibodies. When new animals are
introduced into the colony for breeding purposes, they should be
maintained in quarantine in vermin-proof quarters for a minimum of
2 months and shown to be free from these specified pathogens. The
parents of animals to be used as a source of tissue should also be
maintained in vermin-proof quarters. Neither parent dogs nor their
progeny should previously have been used for experimental purposes,
especially those involving infectious agents. The colony should be
monitored for zoonotic viruses and markers of contamination at
regular intervals.
At the time the colony is established, all animals should be tested to
determine freedom from antibodies to the following pathogens:
rabies, canine parvovirus, canine distempervirus, canine adenovirus 1,
canine adenovirus 2, parainfluenzavirus 3, Sendai virus, SV-5 virus,
reovirus types 1, 2, 3, Mycobacterium tuberculosis, infectious canine
hepatitis and leptospirosis. Following this initial screening, a monitor-
ing programme should be implemented to ensure that the colony
remains free of the specified pathogens.
In some countries, the whole group of animals is bled on the establish-
ment of the colony, and thereafter 5% of the animals should be bled
each month. The screening programme should test all of the animals
over a defined period of time, as agreed with the national regulatory
authority. The serum samples should be screened to establish free-
dom from antibodies to the pathogens above.
Consideration should also be given to testing the colony for hepatitis
E virus, Japanese encephalitis, canine circovirus, canine coronavirus,
canine herpesviruses and bordetella bronchiseptica.
The colony should be tested for retroviruses using a sensitive poly-
merase chain reaction (PCR)-based reverse transcriptase (Rtase)
assay. The results of such assays may need to be interpreted with
caution because Rtase activity is not unique to retroviruses and may
derive from other sources, such as retrovirus-like elements that do not
encode a complete genome (19). If a positive result is obtained in this
screening, it is then important to determine whether replication-
competent retroviruses are present. It should be noted that dogs have
many classes of defective endogenous retroviruses but, as yet, no
E definitely characterized exogenous retrovirus.

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 Any animal that becomes ill or dies should be investigated to deter-
mine if the cause of illness or death may be of infectious origin.
Similarly, ill health of animals within the colony should be investi-
gated to determine if the cause is infectious in origin. If an infectious
agent is detected in the colony, specific steps must be put in place to
ensure that the agent is excluded from the candidate vaccine.
The dog kidney cell cultures currently in use are generated from
harvested tissue that is passaged up to three times and then stored as
a working cell bank. This enables these cells to be characterized in
more detail than if they were used without intervening passage.
Nevertheless, these cells are still considered primary cells. Given
the inherent variability of primary cell cultures and to ensure consis-
tency of manufacturing, it is recommended that the characterization
of any new dog primary kidney cell bank (third passage cells) include
tests comparing cells currently in use with newly harvested and pas-
saged cells.

A.4.1.1.6 Cell culture medium

Serum used for the propagation of cells should be tested to demon-
strate freedom from bacteria, fungi and mycoplasmas, according to
the requirements given in Part A, sections 5.2 and 5.3 of the revised
Requirements for biological substances, No. 6 (20), and from infec-
tious viruses. Suitable tests for detecting viruses in bovine serum are
given in Appendix 1 of the Recommendations for production and
control of poliomyelitis vaccine (oral) (9).
Validated molecular tests for bovine viruses may replace the cell
culture tests of bovine sera.
As an additional monitor of quality, sera may be examined for free-
dom from phage and endotoxin.
Irradiation may be used to inactivate potential contaminant viruses.
The acceptability of the sources(s) of any components of bovine,
sheep or goat origin used in culture media should be approved by the
national regulatory authority. These components should comply with
current guidelines in relation to animal transmissible spongiform en-
cephalopathies (8).
Human serum should not be used. If human albumin is used it should
meet the revised Requirements for the collection, processing and
quality control of blood, blood components and plasma derivatives
(Requirements for Biological Substances No. 27) (21), as well as
current guidelines in relation to human transmissible encephalopa-
thies (8). E

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 The use of human albumin as a component of a cell culture medium
requires careful consideration due to potential difficulties with
the validity period of albumin (which is based on the length of time
for which it is suitable for use in clinical practice) in relation to
the potential long-term storage of monovalent bulks of each dengue
serotype.
Penicillin and other beta-lactams should not be used at any stage of
the manufacture. Other antibiotics may be used at any stage in the
manufacture provided that the quantity present in the final product is
acceptable to the national regulatory authority. Nontoxic pH indica-
tors may be added, e.g. phenol red at a concentration of 0.002%. Only
substances that have been approved by the national regulatory
authority may be added.
If trypsin is used for preparing cell cultures it should be tested and
found free of cultivable bacteria, fungi, mycoplasmas and infectious
viruses, especially bovine or porcine parvoviruses, as appropriate.
The methods used to ensure this should be approved by the national
regulatory authority.
The source(s) of trypsin of bovine origin, if used, should be approved
by the national regulatory authority. Bovine trypsin, if used, should
comply with current guidelines in relation to animal transmissible
spongiform encephalopathies (8).

A.4.1.2 Virus seeds

A.4.1.2.1 Virus strains
Virus strains of dengue viruses used for master and working seeds to
produce vaccine candidates should comply with the specifications of
section A.2. Strains derived by molecular methods may be used,
provided that guidance on vectored vaccines is taken into account
(15). Viruses may be passed in continuous, diploid, and/or primary
cell lines. The candidate vaccine strains should be approved by the
national regulatory authority.
If molecularly derived strains are used, and because this is a live
attenuated vaccine, the candidate vaccine should be considered a
genetically modified organism (GMO) and should comply with the
regulations of the producing and recipient countries regarding
GMOs. An environmental risk assessment should be undertaken.

A.4.1.2.2 Molecularly derived strains

The genomes of the viruses in these candidate vaccines may be geneti-
E cally altered and may consist of intentionally introduced mutations or

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 deletions, genetic elements from one or more of the dengue virus
strains, or genetic elements of related flaviviruses. The primary
virus seed is made from the transfection of in vitro-generated
viral RNA transcripts that are synthesized from a well-characterized,
full-length cDNA clone template into an appropriate cell
substrate.
The sequence of any cDNA clone used to generate vaccine virus
stocks must be determined prior to transfection of viral RNA into the
defined host cell substrate. Virus stocks to be used as working virus
seeds, derived from passaging of the primary virus stock, should also
be sequenced.
Viral vaccine seeds rederived by cDNA cloning to reduce the risk of
TSE contamination are considered as new vaccine candidates and
appropriate bridging studies, including clinical studies, should be per-
formed to demonstrate similarity to the starting virus seed.

A.4.1.2.3 Virus seed lot system

The production of vaccine should be based on the master and working
seed lot system. Seed lots should be prepared in the same type of cells
as those used for production of final vaccine.
Virus seed lots should be stored in a dedicated temperature-
monitored refrigerator at a temperature that ensures stability. It is
recommended that a large working virus seed lot be set aside as the
basic material for use by the manufacturer for the preparation of each
batch of vaccine.

A.4.1.2.3.1 Tests on virus master seeds

1. Identity
Each master seed lot should be identified as dengue virus type-1, 2, 3
or 4 by immunological assay or by sequencing.
2. Genotype/phenotype characterization
Each seed should be characterized by full-length sequence and by
other relevant laboratory and animal tests. Genotype and phenotype
stability of the seeds upon passage should be measured using relevant
assays to ensure uniformity of vaccine lots. It should be noted that
full-length sequencing may not identify minority populations of vari-
ants that may be present in candidate vaccines.
3. Freedom from bacteria, fungi and mycoplasmas
Each master seed lot should be shown to be free from bacterial,
mycotic and mycoplasmal contamination by appropriate tests as
specified in Part A, sections 5.2 and 5.3, of the revised Requirements E

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 for biological substances, No. 6 (General Requirements for the Steril-
ity of Biological Substances, 1995) (20).
4. Tests for adventitious viruses
Each master seed lot should be tested in cell cultures for adventitious
viruses relevant to the passage history of the seed virus. Neutraliza-
tion of dengue virus is necessary for many tests because the virus is
cytopathogenic. Antisera used for this purpose should be shown to be
free from antibodies that may neutralize the specific adventitious
virus being tested for. The cells inoculated should be observed micro-
scopically for cytopathic changes. At the end of the observation
period, the cells should be tested for haemadsorbing viruses.
Each master or working seed lot should also be tested in animals
that include guinea-pigs, mice and embryonated chicken eggs, as
appropriate.
Additional testing for adventitious viruses may be performed using
PCR amplification techniques.
5. Testing in non-human primates

Neurotropism test
To provide some level of assurance that a candidate vaccine will not
be unusually neurovirulent, each master seed lot of each serotype
should be tested for neurovirulence in monkeys by inoculation of
Macaca mulatta (rhesus), Cynomolgus or other susceptible species of
monkey. Tests should follow the WHO Requirements for yellow
fever vaccine (10). Groups of at least 10 monkeys, demonstrated to be
non-immune to dengue viruses and yellow fever virus immediately
prior to inoculation of the seed virus, should be inoculated intracere-
brally into the frontal lobe. A control group of 10 monkeys, also
demonstrated to be non-immune to dengue viruses and yellow fever
virus immediately prior to inoculation of the seed virus should receive
yellow fever vaccine strain 17D as the control group.
The neutralizing antibody test should be used to assess immune status
to dengue virus and yellow fever virus.
All monkeys should be observed for a period of 30 days for signs of
encephalitis. Clinical scores, and the severity of histological lesions of
the central nervous system, of the test group should not exceed scores
of the control (yellow fever vaccine) group.

Viscerotropism test
For some vaccine candidates, evaluation of the master seed virus of
E each serotype for viscerotropism by assay of viraemia may be con-

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 sidered as an additional characterizing parameter. The method
and specifications for yellow fever virus vaccine (10) should be
followed.
6. Virus titration for infectivity
Each master seed lot should be assayed for infectivity in a sensitive
assay in cell cultures.
• A plaque assay may be used in Vero or other sensitive cells. Titre
should be determined by counting the number of visible plaques
developed, and results recorded as PFU/ml.
• An immunofocus assay may also be used to measure virus titre. The
assay is based on the visualization of infected areas of a cell mono-
layer by probing with dengue serotype-specific monoclonal anti-
bodies. Results should be recorded as FFU/ml.
• A tissue culture infectious dose assay may also be used to deter-
mine virus titre. Results should be recorded as cell-culture infec-
tious dose (CCID)50/ml.

A.4.1.2.3.2 Tests on virus working seeds

The virus working seed lot is used for the production of vaccine
batches and is prepared from a qualified virus master seed lot ap-
proved by the national regulatory authority. The working seed lot
should be limited to a specified number of passages in cell culture
beyond the master seed lot.
1. Identity
Each working seed lot should be identified as dengue virus type-1, 2,
3 or 4 by immunological assay or by sequencing.
2. Genotype/phenotype characterization
Each working seed should be characterized by full sequence and
by other relevant laboratory and animal tests. Genotype and pheno-
type stability of the seeds upon passage should be measured using
relevant assays to ensure uniformity of vaccine lots. Samples from
vaccine lots that have been used for human clinical trials should be
available in sufficient amounts to serve as future reference materials.
3. Freedom from bacteria, fungi and mycoplasmas
Each working seed lot should be shown to be free from bacterial,
mycotic and mycoplasmal contamination by appropriate tests as
specified in Part A, sections 5.2 and 5.3, of the revised Requirements
for biological substances No. 6 (General Requirements for the
Sterility of Biological Substances 1995) (20).
The absence of interference by the test articles in the sterility tests
should be demonstrated. E

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 4. Tests for adventitious viruses
Each working seed lot should be tested in cell cultures for adventi-
tious viruses appropriate to the passage history of the seed virus.
Neutralization of dengue virus is necessary for many tests because the
virus is cytopathogenic. Antisera used for this purpose should be free
from antibodies that may neutralize the adventitious virus being
tested for. The cells inoculated should be observed microscopically
for cytopathic changes. At the end of the observation period, the cells
should be tested for haemadsorbing viruses.
Additional testing for adventitious viruses may be performed using
PCR amplification techniques.
5. Virus titration for infectivity
Each working seed lot should be assayed for infectivity in a sensitive
assay in cell cultures.
• A plaque assay may be used in Vero or other sensitive cells. Titre
should be determined by counting the number of visible plaques
developed, and results recorded as PFU/ml.
• An immunofocus assay may also be used to measure virus titre. The
assay is based on the visualization of infected areas of a cell mono-
layer by probing with dengue serotype-specific monoclonal anti-
bodies. Results should be recorded as FFU/ml.
• A tissue culture infectious dose assay may also be used to deter-
mine virus titre. Results should be recorded as CCID50/ml.
If international reference standards become available, immunizing
doses should be expressed as relative potencies rather than CCID50
because experience shows that this reduces variability between
assays.

A.4.2 Control of vaccine production

A.4.2.1 Control cell cultures
From the cell suspension used to prepare cell cultures for growing
attenuated dengue viruses, an amount of processed cell suspension
equivalent to at least 5% or 500 ml of cell suspension, whichever is
greater, should be used to prepare control cultures of uninfected cells.
These control cultures should be observed microscopically for
changes attributable to the presence of adventitious agents for at least
14 days after the day of inoculation of the production cultures, or until
the time of final virus harvest, if this is later. At the end of the
observation period, fluids collected from the control culture should be
tested for the presence of adventitious agents as described below
(A.4.2.1.2). Samples that are not tested immediately should be stored
E at −60 °C or lower.

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 In some countries, samples of fluid from each control vessel are
collected at the time of harvest. If several virus harvests are made
from the same cell culture lot, the control fluid taken at each harvest
is frozen and stored at or below −60 °C until the last virus harvest from
that tissue culture lot has been taken. The control fluids are then
pooled and submitted for testing.
If any test shows evidence of the presence of any adventitious agent in
control cultures, the harvest of virus from these cultures should not be
used for vaccine production.
For the test to be valid, not more than 20% of the control culture
vessels should have been discarded for nonspecific accidental reasons
by the end of the test period.

A.4.2.1.1 Test for haemadsorbing viruses

At the end of the observation period, cells comprising no less than
25% of the control cells should be tested for the presence of
haemadsorbing viruses, using guinea-pig red blood cells. If the red
blood cells have been stored, the duration of storage should not have
exceeded 7 days, and the storage temperature should have been in the
range of 2–8 °C.
In some countries, the national regulatory authority requires that
additional tests for haemadsorbing viruses be performed using red
blood cells from other species including those from humans (blood
group O), monkeys and chickens (or other avian species). For
all tests, readings should be taken after incubation for 30 minutes at
0–4 °C, and again after a further incubation for 30 minutes at
20–25 °C. The test with monkey red cells should be read once more
after an additional incubation for 30 minutes at 34–37 °C.
For the tests to be valid, not more than 20% of the culture vessels
should have been discarded for nonspecific accidental reasons by the
end of the test period.

A.4.2.1.2 Tests for cytopathic, adventitious agents in control cell fluids

Control cell fluids collected at the time of harvest should be used for
testing. A 10-ml sample of the pool should be tested in the same
substrate, but not the same batch as that used for virus growth, and an
additional 10-ml sample of each pool should be tested in both human
and monkey cells.
Each sample should be inoculated into cell cultures in such a way that
the dilution of the pooled fluid in the nutrient medium does not E

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 exceed 1 in 4. The area of the cells should be at least 3 cm2 per ml of
pooled fluid. At least one bottle of the cell cultures should remain
uninoculated as a control.
The inoculated cultures should be incubated at a temperature of
35–37 °C and should be examined at intervals for cytopathic effects
over a period of at least 14 days.
Some national regulatory authorities require that, at the end of this
observation period, a subculture is made in the same culture system
and observed for at least 7 days. Furthermore, some national control
authorities require that these cells should be tested for the presence of
haemadsorbing viruses.
For the tests to be valid, not more than 20% of the culture vessels
should have been discarded for nonspecific accidental reasons by the
end of the test period.

A.4.2.1.3 Additional tests if dog cell cultures are used

If dog cell cultures are used, a sample of fluids pooled from the
control cultures should be tested for retroviruses, by a method ap-
proved by the national regulatory authority.
A test for retroviruses using a sensitive PCR-based reverse
transcriptase (Rtase) assay may be used. The results of such
assays need to be interpreted with caution because Rtase activity is
not unique to retroviruses and may derive from other sources,
such as retrovirus-like elements that do not encode a complete ge-
nome (19). Nucleic acid amplification tests for retrovirus may also be
used.

A.4.3 Production and harvest of monovalent vaccine virus

A.4.3.1 Cells used for vaccine production
On the day of inoculation with the working seed virus, each cell
culture and/or cell culture control should be examined for degenera-
tion caused by infectious agents. If such examination shows evidence
of the presence in a cell culture of any adventitious agent, the
whole group of cultures concerned should not be used for vaccine
production.
If animal serum is used in the growth medium for the cell cultures, the
serum should be removed from the cell culture either before or after
inoculation of working seed virus. Prior to beginning virus harvests,
the cell cultures should be rinsed and the growth medium replaced
E with serum-free maintenance medium.

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 Penicillin and other beta-lactam antibiotics should not be used at any
stage of manufacture.
Minimal concentrations of other suitable antibiotics may be used if
approved by the national regulatory authority.

A.4.3.2 Virus inoculation

Cell cultures with a complete monolayer of cells are inoculated with
dengue working seed virus at an optimal multiplicity of infection.
After viral adsorption, cell cultures are fed with maintenance medium
and incubated at a temperature within a defined range and for a
defined period of time.
The optimal multiplicity of infection, temperature range and duration
of incubation will depend on the vaccine strain and production
method, but specifications should be given by each manufacturer. For
multiplicity of infection, the specified range should not be greater
than 10-fold and for temperature, the specified range should not be
greater than +/− 1.5 °C.

A.4.3.3 Monovalent virus harvest pools

Vaccine virus is harvested within a defined time-period post-
inoculation. A monovalent harvest may be the result of one or
more single harvests. If several single harvests are taken, each single
harvest should be stabilized and stored at 2–8 °C until pooling. No
antibiotics should be added at the time of harvesting or at any later
stage of manufacture. Samples of monovalent virus harvest pools
should be taken for testing and stored at a temperature of −60 °C or
below.
The monovalent virus harvest pool may be clarified or filtered to
remove cell debris and stored at a temperature that ensures stability
before being used to prepare final bulk for freeze-drying.
The national regulatory authority may require the further purification
of harvests derived from continuous cell lines to remove cellular
DNA, and/or the use of DNAase treatment to reduce the size of
DNA fragments. If the harvests are derived from human diploid or
primary cell cultures, further purification is not required.

A.4.3.4 Tests on monovalent virus harvest pools

1. Identity
Each monovalent virus harvest pool should be identified as the appro-
priate dengue virus serotype by immunological assay or by sequenc-
ing (see section A.6.1). E

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 2. Freedom from bacteria, fungi and mycoplasmas
Each monovalent virus harvest pool should be shown to be free from
bacterial, mycotic and mycoplasmal contamination by appropriate
tests as specified in Part A, sections 5.2 and 5.3, of the revised Require-
ments for biological substances No. 6 (General Requirements for the
Sterility of Biological Substances, 1995) (20).
3. Tests for adventitious viruses
Each monovalent virus harvest pool should be tested in cell
cultures for adventitious viruses appropriate to the passage history
of the seed virus. Neutralization of dengue virus is necessary for
many tests because the virus is cytopathogenic. Antisera used for this
purpose should be free from antibodies that may neutralize the
adventitious virus being tested for. The cells inoculated should be
observed microscopically for cytopathic changes. At the end of the
observation period, the cells should be tested for haemadsorbing
viruses.
Additional testing for adventitious viruses may be performed using
PCR amplification techniques.
4. Virus titration for infectivity
Each monovalent virus harvest pool should be assayed for infectivity
in a sensitive assay in cell cultures.
• A plaque assay may be conducted using Vero or other sensitive
cells. Titre should be determined by counting the number of visible
plaques developed, and results recorded as PFU/ml.
• An immunofocus assay may also be used to measure virus titre. The
assay is based on the visualization of infected areas of a cell mono-
layer by probing with dengue serotype-specific monoclonal anti-
bodies. Results should be recorded as FFU/mL.
• A tissue culture infectious dose assay may also be used to deter-
mine virus titre. Results should be recorded as CCID50/ml.
5. Tests for cellular DNA
For viruses grown in continuous cells the monovalent harvest
pool should be tested for residual cellular DNA. The removal process,
at production scale, should be shown to reduce consistently the
level of cellular DNA to less than 10 ng per human dose. This test
may be omitted, with the agreement of the national regulatory
authority, if the manufacturing process is validated to achieve this
specification.
6. Test for consistency of virus characteristics
The dengue virus in the monovalent harvest pool should be tested to
E compare it with the working seed virus, or suitable comparator, to

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 ensure that the vaccine virus has not undergone critical changes dur-
ing its multiplication in the production culture system. The results of
these tests for successive batches of vaccine should enable an assess-
ment to be made of the consistency of vaccine production.
Attenuation assays for dengue viruses include reduced titre in tissue
culture, small plaque phenotype, temperature sensitivity, and de-
crease in pathogenesis in an animal model. Other assays may be used
if validated for this purpose.
Assays for the attenuation of dengue–yellow fever virus chimeric
vaccines include tests in suckling and adult mice. Intracerebral inocu-
lation of suckling mice with 10-fold dilutions of vaccine and yellow
fever 17D is followed by the determination of the mortality ratio and
survival time. Intracerebral inoculation of adult mice with undiluted
virus seed or vaccine as compared with yellow fever 17D strain is also
performed.
7. Storage
Monovalent virus harvest pools should be stored at a temperature
that ensures stability until tetravalent formulation.

A.4.3.5 Final tetravalent bulk lot

The final tetravalent vaccine lot should be prepared from bulk lots of
the four dengue virus subtypes using a defined virus concentration of
each component.
The operations necessary for preparing the final bulk lot should
be conducted in such a manner as to avoid contamination of the
product.
In preparing the final bulk, any substance, such as diluent or stabi-
lizer, that is added to the product should have been shown to the
satisfaction of the national regulatory authority not to impair the
safety and efficacy of the vaccine in the concentration used.

A.4.3.5.1 Tests on the final tetravalent bulk lot

Residual animal serum protein. A sample of the final bulk should be
tested to verify that the level of serum is less than 50 ng per human
dose. Alternatively the test may be performed on the clarified
monovalent bulk.
Sterility. Each final bulk suspension should be tested for bacterial and
mycotic sterility according to Part A, sections 5.2 and 5.3 of the
Requirements for Biological Substances No. 6 (General Require-
ments for Sterility of Biological Substances) (20), or by a method
approved by the national regulatory authority. E

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 A.4.3.5.2 Storage
Until it is distributed into containers and lyophilized, the final bulk
suspension should be stored under conditions shown by the manufac-
turer to retain the desired immunogenic activity.

A.5 Filling and containers

The requirements concerning good manufacturing practices for bio-
logical products (22) appropriate to a developmental vaccine should
apply.
Care should be taken to ensure that the materials of which the con-
tainer and, if applicable, the closure is made do not adversely affect
the virus content of the vaccine under the recommended conditions of
storage.
A final filtration could be included during the filling operations.
The manufacturer should provide the national regulatory authority
with adequate data to prove the stability of the product under appro-
priate conditions of storage and shipping.

A.6 Control tests on final product

The following tests should be carried out on the final product.
1. Identity
Each tetravalent vaccine virus lot should be identified as dengue virus
type-1, 2, 3 or 4 by immunological assay or by sequencing.
2. Virus titration for infectivity
Each tetravalent vaccine virus lot should be assayed for infectivity in
a sensitive assay in cell cultures in which interference or potentiation
between serotypes does not occur. The titre of each individual sero-
type should be determined.
• A plaque assay may be used in Vero or other sensitive cells. Titre
should be determined by counting the number of visible plaques
developed, and results recorded as PFU/ml.
• An immunofocus assay may also be used to measure virus titre.
The assay is based on the visualization of infected areas of a cell
monolayer by probing with dengue serotype-specific monoclonal
antibodies. Results should be recorded as FFU/ml.
• A tissue culture infectious dose assay may also be used to deter-
mine virus titre. Results should be recorded as CCID50/ml.
3. Accelerated degradation tests
Three containers of the final freeze-dried tetravalent vaccine should
E be incubated at 37 °C for 7 days. The geometric mean infectious

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 virus titre of the containers that have been exposed should not have
decreased by more than a specified amount during the period of
exposure. Titration of non-exposed and exposed vials should be done
in parallel and results expressed in terms of PFU or CCID50 or FFU
per human dose. A reference reagent of each of the four dengue
serotype viruses should be included in each assay to validate the
assay.
The maximum allowable loss of titre during the accelerated degrada-
tion test should be confirmed on the basis of experience yet to be
accumulated.
4. Sterility test
Reconstituted vaccine should be tested for bacterial and mycotic
sterility according to the requirements in Part A, section 5.2 of the
Requirements for biological substances No. 6 (Requirements for the
sterility of biological substances) (20), by acceptable methods
approved by the national regulatory authority.
5. General safety tests
Each filling lot should be tested for unexpected toxicity (sometimes
called abnormal toxicity) using a general safety (innocuity) test ap-
proved by the national regulatory authority.
This test may be omitted for routine lot release once consistency of
production has been established to the satisfaction of the national
regulatory authority and when good manufacturing practices are in
place. Each lot, if tested, should pass a test for abnormal toxicity.
6. Residual moisture
The residual moisture in a representative sample of each freeze-
dried lot should be determined by a method approved by the national
regulatory authority and an appropriate limit should be set by
them.
Generally, moisture levels of 2% and less are considered satisfactory
although some candidate vaccines formulations may be satisfactory at
levels of up to 4%.
7. Inspection of final containers
Each container in each final lot should be inspected visually and those
showing abnormalities should be discarded.

A.7 Records
The requirements of Good manufacturing practices for biological
products (22) pp. 27–28, should apply, as appropriate for the level of
development of the candidate vaccine. E

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 A.8 Samples
A sufficient number of samples should be retained for future
studies and needs. Vaccine lots that are to be used for human clinical
trials may serve as reference materials in the future and a sufficient
number of vials should be reserved, and appropriately stored, for that
purpose.

A.9 Labelling
The requirements of Good Manufacturing Practices for Biological
Products (20) pp. 26–27, appropriate for a candidate vaccine should
apply, with the addition of the following:
The label on the carton enclosing one or more final containers, or the
leaflet accompanying the container, should include:
— a statement that the candidate vaccine fulfils Part A of these
Requirements;
— a statement of the nature of the preparation, specifying the desig-
nation of the strains of dengue viruses contained in the live attenu-
ated tetravalent vaccine, the minimum number of infective units
per human dose, the origin of the substrates used in the prepara-
tion of the vaccine and whether the vaccine strains were derived
by molecular methods;
— a statement of the nature and quantity, or upper limit, of any
antibiotic present in the vaccine;
— an indication that contact with disinfectants is to be avoided;
— a statement concerning the photosensitivity of the vaccine, cau-
tioning that both lyophilized and reconstituted vaccine should be
protected from light;
— a statement indicating the volume and nature of diluent to be
added to reconstitute the vaccine, and specifying that the diluent
to be used is that supplied by the manufacturer; and
— a statement that after the vaccine has been reconstituted, it should
be used without delay, or if not used immediately, stored between
2 °C and 8 °C and in the dark for a maximum period defined by
validation studies.

A.10 Distribution and shipping

The requirements of Good Manufacturing Practices for Biological
Products (20) appropriate for a candidate vaccine should apply.
Shipments should be maintained at temperatures of 8 °C or below and
E packages should contain cold-chain monitors.

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 A.11 Storage and expiry date
The Requirements given in Good Manufacturing Practices for Bio-
logical Products (22) appropriate for a candidate vaccine should
apply. The statements concerning storage temperature and expiry
date that appear on the primary or secondary packaging should be
based on experimental evidence and should be submitted for ap-
proval to the national regulatory authority.

A.11.1 Storage conditions

Before being distributed by the manufacturing establishment or
being issued from a storage site, the vaccine should be stored at a
temperature shown by the manufacturer to be compatible with a
minimal loss of titre. After distribution, live tetravalent dengue vac-
cine should be stored at all times at a temperature not more than 8 °C.
The maximum duration of storage should be fixed with the approval
of the national regulatory authority and should be such as to ensure
that the minimum titre specified on the label of the container (or
package) will be maintained after release by the manufacturing estab-
lishment until the end of the shelf-life, if the conditions under which
the vaccine is stored are in accordance with those stated on the label.
The maximum duration of storage at 2–8 °C or below −20 °C may be
specified.

A.11.2 Expiry date

An expiry date should be fixed and should relate to the date of the last
satisfactory determination, performed in accordance with Part A,
section 6.2, of virus concentration, i.e., the date on which the cell
cultures were inoculated.

Part B. National control requirements

The national regulatory authority may give directions to manufactur-
ers concerning the dengue virus strains to be used in candidate vac-
cine production and concerning the proposed human dose(s) to be
tested.

Authors
The first draft of these Requirements was prepared by: Dr Grachev, M.P.
Chumakov Institute of Poliomyelitis and Viral Encephalitis, Moscow, Russian
Federation; Dr Bhamarapravati, Mahidol University at Salaya, Bangkok, Thailand;
Dr Eckels, Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, Washington, DC, USA; Dr
Monath, OraVax Incorporated, Cambridge, MA, USA; Dr Saluzzo, Pasteur Mérieux E

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 Connaught, Lyon, France; Dr Shope, The University of Texas Medical Branch at
Galveston, TX, USA; Dr Tsai, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Fort
Collins, CO, USA and Dr Trent, Franklin Quest Company, Salt Lake City, UT, USA.
A second draft was prepared by Dr Eckels, Walter Reed Army Institute of
Research, Washington, DC, USA; Mrs Jivapaisarnpong, Ministry of Public Health,
Nonthaburi, Thailand, Dr Levis, Center for Biologics, Evaluation and Research,
Food and Drug Administration, Rockville, MD, USA and Dr Wood, WHO, Geneva,
Switzerland taking into account the comments from the Committee and scientific
developments that had taken place since the first draft was prepared.
The second draft was reviewed by participants at a WHO Consultation held in
Philadelphia, USA, in December 2003 and attended by the following participants:
Dr B. Barrere, Aventis Pasteur SA, Marcy l’Etoile, France; Dr A.D.T. Barrett,
University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, Galveston, TX, USA; Dr J.
Cardosa, Institute of Health & Community Medicine, University Malaysia Sarawak,
Malaysia; Dr R. Dobbelaer, Biological Standardization, Scientific Institute of Public
Health, Brussels, Belgium; Dr A. Durbin, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of
Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA; Dr K. Eckels, Walter Reed Army Institute of
Research, Washington, DC, USA; Dr F.A. Ennis, Center for Infectious Disease and
Vaccine, University of Massachusetts, Worcester, MA, USA; Dr M. Ferguson,
National Institute of Biological Standards and Control, Potters Bar, Herts., England;
Dr R. Forrat, Aventis Pasteur, Lyon, France; Dr D. Gubler, Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention, Fort Collins, CO, USA; Dr F. Guirakhoo, Acambis Inc.
Cambridge, MA, USA; Dr S.B. Halstead, Department of Preventive Medicine &
Biostatistics, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, Bethesda, MD,
USA; Dr Hoang Quang Huy, National Centre for Control of Medico Biological
Products, Ministry of Health, Hanoi, Viet Nam; Dr B.L. Innis, GlaxoSmithKline,
Collegeville, PA, USA; Dr S. Kalyanarooj, Ministry of Public Health, Nonthaburi,
Thailand; Dr R. Kinney, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Fort Collins,
CO, USA; Dr S. Kitchener, Acambis, Inc. Cambridge, England; Dr I. Kurane,
National Institute of Infectious Diseases, Tokyo, Japan; Dr J. Lang, Aventis Pasteur,
France; Dr Y. Lawanprasert, Ministry of Public Health, Nonthaburi, Thailand; Dr R.
Levis, Center for Biologics Evaluation and Review, Food and Drug Administration,
Rockville, MD, USA; Ms T. Lorchaivej, Ministry of Public Health, Nonthaburi,
Thailand; Dr C. Luxemburger, Aventis Pasteur, Lyon, France; Dr J.-C. Mareschal,
GlaxoSmithKline Biologicals, Rixensart, Belgium; Dr T.P. Monath, Acambis, Inc.,
Cambridge, MA, USA; Dr R. Putnak, The Walter Reed Army Institute of Research,
Silver Spring, MD, USA; Ms C. Rotario, Aventis Pasteur, France; Dr A. Sabchareon,
Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand; Dr S. Nimmanitya, Ministry of Public Health,
Bangkok, Thailand; Dr W. Sun, Walter Reed Army Institute of Research,
Washington, DC, USA; Dr S. Whitehead, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious
Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA.
WHO Secretariat Dr D. Wood and Dr J. Hombach, World Health Organization,
Geneva, Switzerland.
Document WHO/BS/04.1989 was prepared by Dr D. Wood, WHO, taking
into account the comments from the December 2003 Consultation, for
consideration by the fifty-fifth meeting of the Expert Committee on Biological
Standardization, held in Geneva in 2004. Further changes were made to WHO/BS/
04.1989 by the Expert Committee on Biological Standardization, resulting in the
present document.

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 References
1. WHO guidelines for nonclinical evaluation of vaccines. In: WHO Expert
Committee on Biological Standardization. Fifty-fourth report. Geneva, World
Health Organization, 2005, Annex 1 (WHO Technical Report Series,
No. 927).
2. WHO guidelines for clinical evaluation of vaccines: regulatory expectations.
In: WHO Expert Committee on Biological Standardization. Fifty-second
report. Geneva, World Health Organization, 2002, Annex 1 (WHO Technical
Report Series, No. 924).
3. Guidelines for the evaluation of dengue vaccines in populations exposed to
natural infection. Geneva, World Health Organization, 2002 (TDR/IVR/DEN/
02.1).
4. WHO Expert Committee on Biological Standardization, Forty-eighth Report.
Geneva, World Health Organization, 1999 (WHO Technical Report Series,
No. 889), pp. 9–10.
5. Meeting report on WHO guidelines for production and quality control of
tetravalent attenuated dengue vaccines, 2–3 December 2003, Philadelphia,
USA. Geneva, World Health Organization, 2004 (WHO/IVB/QSB).
6. Sabchareon A, Lang J, Chanthavanich P et al. Safety and immunogenicity of
a three dose regimen of two tetravalent live-attenuated dengue vaccines in
five- to twelve- year old Thai children. Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal,
2004, 23:99–109.
7. Live attenuated dengue vaccine development. American Journal of Tropical
Medicine and Health, 2003, 69 (suppl.).
8. Guidelines on transmissible spongiform encephalopathies in relation
to biological and pharmaceutical products. Geneva, World Health
Organization, 2003. WHO document (WHO/BCT/QSD/2003.01)
(available on the internet at http://www.who.int.biologicals).
9. Recommendations for the production and control of polioymelitis vaccine
(oral). In: WHO Expert Committee on Biological Standardization. Fiftieth
report. Geneva, World Health Organization, 2002 Annex (WHO Technical
Report Series, No. 904).
10. Requirements for the production and control of yellow fever vaccine.
(Requirements for Biological Substances No. 3.) In: WHO Expert Committee
on Biological Standardization. Forty-sixth report. Geneva, World Health
Organization, 1998, Annex 2 (WHO Technical Report Series, No. 872).
11. Requirements for the use of animal cells as in vitro substrates for the
production of biologicals. In: WHO Expert Committee on Biological
Standardization. Forty-seventh report. Geneva, World Health Organization,
1998, Annex 1 (WHO Technical Report Series, No. 878).
12. Requirements for the use of animal cells as in vitro substrates for the
production of biologicals (Addendum 2003). In: WHO Expert Committee on
Biological Standardization. Fifty-fourth report. Geneva, World Health
Organization, 2005, Annex (WHO Technical Report Series, No. 927).
13. Guidelines for the production and quality control of live attenuated
Japanese vaccine. In: WHO Expert Committee on Biological E

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 Standardization. Fifty-first report. Geneva, World Health Organization,
2002, Annex 3 (WHO Technical Report Series, No. 910).
14. WHO Task Force on cell substrates, 6–7 June 2002. Geneva, World Health
Organization, 2002. WHO document (WHO/IVB/QSB).
15. WHO informal consultation on characterization and quality aspects of
vaccines based on live virus vectors, Geneva, 4–5 December 2003.
Geneva, World Health Organization, 2003 (WHO/IVB/QSB).
16. Seligman SJ, Gould EA. Live flavivirus vaccines: reasons for caution.
Lancet, 2004; 363:2073–2075.
17. Murphy BR, Blaney JE, Whitehead SS. Arguments for live flavivirus
vaccines. Lancet, 2004, 364:499–500.
18. Hombach J, Kurane I, Wood DJ. Arguments for live flavivirus vaccines.
Lancet, 2004, 364:498–499.
19. Robertson JS et al. Assessing the significance of reverse transcriptase
activity in chick cell-derived vaccines. Biologicals, 1997, 25:403–414.
20. General requirements for the sterility of biological substances
(Requirements for Biological Substances, No. 6, revised 1973, amendment
1995). In: WHO Expert Committee on Biological Standardization. Forty-sixth
report. Geneva, World Health Organization, 1995 Annex 3 (WHO Technical
Report Series No. 872).
21. Requirements for the collection, processing and quality control of blood,
blood components and plasma derivatives (Requirements for Biological
Substances, No. 27, revised 1992). In: WHO Expert Committee on Biological
Standardization. Forty-third report. Geneva, World Health Organization, 1994
Annex (WHO Technical Report Series. No. 840).
22. Good manufacturing practices for biological products. In: WHO Expert
Committee on Biological Standardizaion. Forty-second report. Geneva,
World Health Organization, 1992, Annex 1 (WHO Technical Report Series,
No. 822).

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 © World Health Organization
WHO Technical Report Series, No. 932, 2006

Annex 2
Recommendations for the preparation,
characterization and establishment of
international and other biological reference
standards (revised 2004)

The process whereby international biological reference standards are

established, and the technical specifications with which they comply, are
set out in this guidance document, which is intended to be scientific and
advisory in nature.
The parts of each section printed in large type are definitive requirements
for international biological reference standards. The parts of each section
printed in smaller type are comments for additional guidance and are
intended to provide further explanation of the text in large print.

Introduction 75

General considerations 78

Part A. Recommendations for the preparation, characterization and

establishment of international biological reference standards 84
A.1 Introduction 84
A.2 Quality assurance 92
A.3 Assessment of need and procurement of materials 93
A.4 Distribution into final containers 96
A.5 Processing of filled containers 101
A.6 International collaborative studies 107
A.7 Detailed information to be provided to WHO 116
A.8 Establishment of an international biological reference standard 119
A.9 Storage and distribution of international biological reference
standards 120

Part B. General considerations for the preparation, characterization and

calibration of regional or national biological reference standards 121
B.1 Introduction 121
B.2 Assessment of need and procurement of material 122
B.3 Distribution into and processing of final containers 122
B.4 Calibration 122 E

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 Acknowledgements 123

References 125

Appendix 1
Considerations for assignment of priorities to development of WHO
International Biological Measurement Standards or Reference Reagents 128

Appendix 2
Information to be included in instruction leaflets and safety data sheets for
users of international or other biological reference standards 130

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 Introduction
A core function of WHO, set out in its Constitution (Article 2), is to
“develop, establish and promote international standards with respect
to food, biological, pharmaceutical and similar products” as well as
“to standardize diagnostic procedures as necessary”. This responsibil-
ity is discharged in part by establishment of biological reference stan-
dards that form the basis of regulation and clinical dosing for
biological medicines and also for regulation of in vitro diagnostic
devices. The process whereby such international biological reference
standards are established and the technical specifications with which
they comply are set out in this guidance document, which is intended
to be scientific and advisory in nature.
The provision of international biological reference standards makes a
critically important contribution to high standards of efficacy, quality,
purity and safety of many biological medicines used worldwide in the
prevention, treatment or diagnosis of disease or conditions. Their use
supports the application of the numerous biological and immunologi-
cal assays used in the standardization and control of a wide range of
biologicals including therapeutics, blood-derived products, vaccines
and immunological products of traditional types as well as those
derived from modern biotechnological approaches. They also have
important applications in the standardization of materials and ap-
proaches used in medical diagnostics such as diagnosis of disease,
monitoring therapy, blood safety and public health applications (e.g.
monitoring immune status, screening for disease or susceptibility) or
otherwise characterizing biological material from individuals.
WHO biological reference standards are widely used in the develop-
ment, evaluation, standardization and control of products in industry,
by regulatory authorities and also in biological research in academic
and scientific organizations. They play a vital role in facilitating the
transfer of laboratory science into clinical practice worldwide and the
development of safe and effective biologicals.
There are special considerations and challenges which apply to the
production and quality evaluation of biologicals, including the inher-
ent variability of biological systems, variability of biological and im-
munological assays, and the potential for microbial contamination.
The availability of WHO reference standards has made a major con-
tribution to progress in the development and use of biologicals and in
addressing these challenges.
In particular the reference standards have an essential role in the
development of internationally agreed systems for measurement of E

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 the biological and immunological activities of biological products.
There is a wide variety of potential types of measurement: for ex-
ample biological activity, immunological activity, quantity, biotypes
and genetic types. In addition, for each measurement type, there are
numerous possible variations on methodologies and reagents. There-
fore, the purpose of the reference standards is to facilitate standard-
ized characterization of biological samples, whatever the type of
measurement or method used. Many WHO biological reference stan-
dards are designated as International Standards (IS) and provide the
unique physical basis for the definition of International Units (IUs) of
biological and/or immunological activity. Their use enables the
achievement of consistency in the measurement of key attributes of
biologicals, for example biological potency or immunological activity
and, thus, the development of internationally agreed criteria for ac-
ceptability and standardization and control of products. It also pro-
vides the basis for the comparability of data from different sources in
relation to specific products. Assays for markers of immunity (e.g.
to infectious agents) are often defined in terms of agreed IUs of
antibodies, providing a basis for an international consensus on the
measurement of the immunological status of individuals or popula-
tions following vaccination or infection.
Some WHO biological reference standards do not carry the de-
signation of ISs, but are nevertheless of great value in the standardi-
zation of assays applied to biological products and diagnostic
materials.
The timely development of new reference materials and standards is
a critically important aspect of harnessing new scientific develop-
ments for application in the form of safe and effective biologicals and
securing improved world health.
This document provides an updated set of recommendations in rela-
tion to the development, evaluation, establishment and use of WHO
biological reference materials.
The WHO Guidelines for the Preparation and Establishment of Ref-
erence standards for Biological Substances were first published in
1978 (1). The Guidelines were revised in 1986 (2) following decisions
by the WHO Expert Committee on Biological Standardization to
simplify the nomenclature of international biological reference
standards (3) and that reference standards of human origin should
be tested for evidence of possible contamination with human
immunodeficiency viruses and hepatitis B virus (4). The Guidelines
were revised again in 1990 (5) when a section was added on informa-
E tion to be provided in support of requests for adoption by the WHO

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 Expert Committee on Biological Standardization of international
biological reference standards.
A number of developments have occurred since 1990. Partly because
of scientific and technical advances, the range of materials classified as
biological substances has altered: many older biologicals can be ap-
propriately characterized by chemical and physical means and their
WHO biological reference standards have been discontinued, while
new groups of biological substances have been developed.
Antibiotics came within the range of substances considered by WHO as
biologicals at the time of their development, but now, for most antibiotic
preparations, physicochemical testing, rather than biological testing, is
accepted.
On the other hand, new groups of substances have been developed as a
result of advances in molecular biology. Biological reference standards are
still needed when such materials are subjected to biological or
immunological assay.

The need has been recognized for prompt availability of some refer-
ence standards that have not undergone the rigorous characterization
and testing of international biological standards, leading to the estab-
lishment of a new group of WHO Reference Reagents which may act
as interim standards (6, p.4). A priority-setting process for developing
WHO biological reference standards has been published (7). The
science of reference standard preparation and characterization has
continued to evolve and the extent to which the principles for the
characterization of reference standards in certain fields (8) can be
applied to biological reference standards in general has been debated.
Consequently, WHO has worked with the scientific community,
national regulatory authorities, other standard-setting bodies and us-
ers through a series of consultations (9–13) to review the scientific
basis of characterization of biological reference standards. As a result,
the concepts used by WHO for biological standardization have been
re-affirmed as appropriate to ensure the continued usefulness of this
class of reference standards. During the consultation process it was
however recognized that improved clarity in explaining the rationale
for the principles used by WHO in biological standardization would
be of benefit. This updated version of the Guidelines reflects these
and other changes.
These Recommendations are divided into in three parts:
• General considerations address the scientific basis of biological
standardization and the principles applied to WHO International
Standards.
• Part A addresses the background to the need for an international
biological reference standard, general considerations about E

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 procurement and characterization of suitable material, factors to be
taken into account in preparing a batch of a candidate reference
standard and assessing its suitability, the testing and collaborative
assay of the batch; and the information to be provided to WHO so
that appropriate reference standards can be established by the
WHO Expert Committee on Biological Standardization. A new
section on quality assurance considerations has been included.
• Part B provides advice and guidance to regional and national regu-
latory authorities on the preparation and establishment of second-
ary biological reference standards. Such materials may be assigned
values in IUs by assay against the corresponding WHO reference
standard.
The parts of each section printed in smaller type are comments for
additional guidance and are intended to provide further explanation
of the main text.

General considerations
WHO biological reference standards comprise materials of complex
composition that require biological or immunological assay for appro-
priate characterization. The biological or immunological assays used
are usually comparative rather than absolute, and the reference stan-
dard is critical in defining the qualitative nature and the relative
magnitude of the biological or immunological response. The pub-
lished catalogue of WHO biological reference standards includes over
300 materials and is updated each time materials are added or re-
moved from the list (8). Definitions used in the context of this docu-
ment are given in section A.1.2.
The set of principles used by WHO for biological standardization are:
• that the reference standard should be assigned a value in arbitrary
rather than absolute units, but there can be exceptions, where
justified;
• that the unit is defined by a reference standard with a physical
existence; and
• that in the establishment of the standard, a variety of methods is
usually used and that the value assigned to the standard, and there-
fore the definition of the unit, is not necessarily dependent on a
specific method of determination;
Generally, WHO reference standards are established for analytes for which
no reference measurement procedure (“reference method”) has been
agreed or established. In these cases the principles set out above will
E apply. Where a reference method has been defined and agreed, then

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 establishment of the standard and value assignment may be specifically
based on that method.
• that the behaviour of the reference standard should resemble as
closely as possible the behaviour of test samples in the assay sys-
tems used to test them;
The general principle is that of “like versus like”. Thus although it may not be
necessary for the standard to be prepared in the same formulation or matrix
as test samples, it is necessary that the dose–response characteristics of
the standard are the same as those of tests samples. For example, the
reference preparation for assaying the activity of factor VIII in a factor VIII
concentrate is derived from factor VIII concentrate, rather than plasma.
However, reference standards may be formulated in such a way as
to preserve long-term stability of activity and, where the test systems are not
adversely affected, formulations may differ from the formulation or matrices
of substances to be examined. This principle means, for example, that
the formulation of factor VIII standard does not match that of commercial
products; that a monovalent vaccine reference preparation may be used
to assay combination vaccine products, providing it is shown that the
components of the combination vaccine do not interfere with the response
of the monovalent reference preparation; and that the WHO reference
standard for a diagnostic analyte is not necessarily formulated in plasma.
However, there are an increasing number of exceptions to this
generalization and some reference standards that do not resemble the
biological substance are designed specifically for use in particular assays.
This is particularly true for reference materials use in relation to modern
molecular biological tests. An example is the International Standard for the
mutant analysis by polymerase chain reaction and restriction-enzyme
cleavage (MAPREC) assay of poliovirus type 3, that consists of synthetic
DNA and is intended for assay of poliovirus mutants in vaccine preparations
(14).

These principles derive from shared properties of complex macro-

molecular analytes:
— difficulties in unambiguously assigning a value in SI units, even to
well-characterized proteins;
— the comparative rather than absolute nature of biological and
immunological test procedures;
— the difficulty in quantitatively defining the analyte in terms of a
biological response;
— the difficulty of defining reference methods; and
— the multifactorial nature of biological and immunological test
methods, in which both quantitative and qualitative differences in
activity may result from changes in the properties of the reference
standard.
The implications of the factors listed above are twofold for the establishment
of biological reference standards; firstly, that an analyte is in fact defined by
the reference standard. This is distinct from the situation for some chemical
reference standards, which can be fully characterized by physical or E

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 chemical methods, where an analyte is defined by a reference method.
Secondly, it cannot be proven analytically that, when a biological reference
standard is replaced, the new material is identical to the old. The analyte is
essentially redefined by the new reference standard. This means that the
chain of traceability for the user is to the new reference standard. Where a
reference standard is assigned an activity expressed in IU, every effort is
made in the collaborative study design to ensure that the IU defined by a
replacement reference standard is as similar as possible to the IU defined
by the old reference standard so that continuity of the IU is maintained.
For example, the IU of factor VIII activity in factor VIII concentrate was
established in 1970, and the activity represented by this unit has been
maintained through seven successive WHO international standards,
providing a stable baseline over time with which to assess and compare the
efficacy of factor VIII treatments for haemophilia.
The relative magnitude of biological responses forms the basis of the
comparative procedures in which biological reference standards are used.
It is desirable that biological reference preparations are not assigned
values in terms of the absolute magnitude of the biological response,
because this depends on a variety of conditions. For example, WHO
collaborative studies typically show that an absolute biological response
such as a 50% cell culture infectious dose (CCID50) is more variable than
the expression of the results as a relative potency in IU. In a few cases, for
historical reasons, standards are defined in terms of a “consensus”
absolute biological response and are not used for assignment of relative
potencies. An example would be the International Standard for measles
vaccine (live) which is assigned a value of 4.4 log 10 infectious units per
ampoule. It should be noted that this leads to difficulties in maintaining
continuity of the assigned unit when it becomes necessary to replace such
a standard.
As a consequence of applying the above-mentioned principles, the activity
or potency of a WHO biological reference standard is demonstrated by
biological procedures and, where appropriate, is stated in arbitrary IUs. The
reference preparation thus defines the numerical value of the unit and also
has a role in qualitatively defining what is being measured (the analyte). It
is implicit that the unit has no existence other than in relation to the
reference preparation that defines it. Thus when stocks of a WHO biological
reference preparation become depleted, high priority is given to the
establishment of a replacement material (Appendix 1). Once a replacement
standard has been established, the units defined by the previous standard
formally cease to exist. In practice, every effort is made to assign a value to
the new reference preparation that will preserve as closely as possible the
value of the IU over time (continuity of the unit). This ensures that users
do not experience differences from one year to the next (or one decade to
the next) when using values derived from WHO biological reference
preparations.
A further consequence of the principles given above is that several
methods, and in particular those methods which are currently in use in the
relevant field, are usually used in studies to characterize candidate
biological reference standards. This approach embodies the recognition
that it is usually not possible to select, on a rational basis, any single assay
method from which to predict the biological activity of a preparation in
humans.

It is recognized that biological materials may be shown to have differ-

E ent types of biological activity. Thus separate reference preparations

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 may be established as bioassay and immunoassay standards, or,
different types of biological activity may be assigned to the same
reference preparation.
As an example of establishing separate reference preparations, the first
International Standard for follicle-stimulating hormone, recombinant, for
bioassay was established in 1995 with an activity of 138 IU/ampoule (6,
pp. 26–27) and a different preparation was established in 1997 as the
first International Standard for follicle-stimulating hormone, recombinant,
for immunoassay with an activity of 60 IU/ampoule (15). Two reference
standards are thus available for different uses and users need to
ensure that the appropriate material is requested, depending on the
intended use.
As an example of assigning different types of biological activity to the same
reference preparation, the second International Standard for low-molecular-
weight heparin, established in 2003 (16), was assigned activities of 1097 IU
of anti-Xa per ampoule and 326 IU of anti-IIa per ampoule.
It is also recognized that some international standards may be used
for qualitative rather than quantitative purposes.
This is particularly the case for some International Standard materials used
in the in vitro diagnostics area. In such cases, an International Standard
may be established without the assignment of an IU. In some cases no
assignment of activity may be made or, alternatively, units of activity may be
assigned in terms of a suitable property. For example, the first International
Standard for MAPREC analysis of poliovirus type 3 is assigned a content of
0.9% 472-C nucleotide per ampoule (14).
Previously, a reference standard established without an assigned IU was
called an international biological reference reagent (5). However even at the
time that these two categories were created, it was acknowledged that
the distinction between the two was not always clear-cut (5). In this revision,
the distinction is no longer maintained. It is essential at the outset of any
study of a candidate biological reference standard to state clearly if the
intended use of the material is for qualitative purposes, because this will
significantly influence the study design.
It may also be necessary to establish a panel of reference materials to aid
evaluation of diagnostic tests. As an example, the Expert Committee on
Biological Standardization established a reference panel of 10 individual
genotypes of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) to help assess
the specificity of nucleic amplification technology based assays for HIV-1.
The panel was established as the First International Reference Panel for
HIV-1 genotypes and unitages were not assigned to the individual members
of the panel (17).
The extent to which the general metrological topic of measurement
uncertainty, as defined in the standard ISO 17511 (8) applies to biologi-
cal reference standards has been raised in the light of new regulations
from one region of the world concerning in vitro diagnostic devices.
However, where international biological reference standards are to be
assigned a value in arbitrary IUs, an uncertainty value is not given.
As a consequence of defining the IU as a fraction of the contents of the
container of the current International Standard and because the units E

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 defined by any previous International Standard formally cease to exist, an
uncertainty value is not given to the assigned IU.
Information on the variability observed during the course of a collaborative
study to characterize the preparation is always documented in the
collaborative study report, which is available to users. In a multimethod
collaborative study, differences in potency estimates of the material using
different methods may be apparent. Moreover, the nature of biological
assays means that methods which are nominally the same in reality differ in
many features. In the absence of a reference method, assumptions about
an underlying true value (of potency of the material), or a probability
distribution of values across methods, may not be valid. Summarizing all the
components of variability observed in a collaborative study by quoting a
single uncertainty value may not be helpful. The single uncertainty value
does not reflect the variability between ampoules of the International
Standard.
The memoranda accompanying reference standards should contain a
statement of the coefficient of variation (CV) of fill of the preparation
concerned to reflect ampoule-to-ampoule variation (16).
Another issue raised by ISO17511 (8) is the assumption of a metro-
logical “hierarchy”, in which SI units are of a higher metrological
order than IU. A strict application would appear to imply that, where
possible, procedures reporting SI units should be used to calibrate
reference preparations regardless of any other considerations. The
Expert Committee on Biological Standardization, after consideration
of this issue (11), concluded that the choice of unit should be made on
a case-by-case basis and reflect, and be based on, the biological and
medical as well as the physicochemical information available.
Many biologicals exist in both active and inactive states, and the clinically
relevant form of the analyte may depend on the diagnostic aim. For
example, the active state of the placental hormone chorionic gonadotrophin
(hCG) is the relevant molecule to measure in the diagnosis of pregnancy,
whereas the biologically inactive free beta subunit (hCG-beta) is measured
to diagnose choriocarcinoma. Generally, a measurement of biological
activity is expressed in IU, whereas measurement of the amount of a protein
or of a specific protein structure is expressed in SI. In this case there would
be a compelling reason to relate the measurement of hCG to a unit of
biological activity, and the measurement of hCG-beta to an SI unit of
quantity. Accordingly WHO has established a reference preparation for
hCG (currently the fourth International Standard, with an assigned content
of 650 IU/ampoule) (7) and a reference preparation for hCG-beta (currently
the first WHO Reference Reagent for immunoassay of hCG beta subunit,
with an assigned content of 0.88 nmol/ampoule) (18). The former
preparation was assigned a value based on bioassay, whereas the latter
preparation had been extensively characterized by physicochemical and
immunological methods and calibrated in nanomol by amino acid analysis.
Applying these considerations of the properties of biological analytes, and
their measurement in the clinical situation allowed the WHO biological
reference standard for hepatitis B surface antigen, assigned a value in
arbitrary IU rather than in SI units, to be adopted by the medical devices
sector of the European Commission as the standard required for the
E fulfilment of the so-called Common Technical Specifications (CTS) for in

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 vitro diagnostic devices. The Common Technical Specification document
supporting the European (IVD) Medical Devices Directive 98/79 EC is a
legally binding document within the 25 countries of the European Union.
Where it is appropriate for a WHO biological reference standard to be
calibrated in SI units, the principles outlined in ISO 17511 (8) should be
followed. This will necessitate the existence and use of an appropriate
single reference method and an assignment of uncertainty, derived from
calibration data. Such a reference method should not be a biological assay
because the factors that affect the results of such assays are not fully
understood. Where they are used, SI units assigned to biological reference
standards should be derived from, and traceable to, physicochemical
procedures.

The decision on the route of characterization to be followed for a

WHO biological reference standard must be made and clearly stated
at the outset of the study.
The concept of commutability also needs to be addressed. The way in
which this is done may vary depending on the field of application. In
the in vitro diagnostics area, the analyte may be a minor component
of a complex biological matrix (e.g. blood). Matrix effects may have
an important effect on the measurement.
In general terms, the concept of commutability seeks to establish the extent
to which the reference standard is suitable to serve as a standard for the
variety of different samples being assayed. This concept is considered in
ISO15194 (19) to be an intrinsic property of the standard, and to require
description. The way in which this is done may vary according to the
intended application.
In the vaccine field, for example, International Standards for vaccines may
be prepared without adjuvant, although vaccine preparations usually
contain adjuvant. The applicability (or commutability) of the standard to
such preparations will need to be established, either in the collaborative
study, or by independent validation of assay methods.
Commutability in the in vitro diagnostics field is a consideration of how a
reference preparation and samples to be examined compare in different
assay methods, and is a property that is potentially affected by a wide
range of factors including matrix (e.g. plasma or urine), binding proteins,
plasma degradation and molecular variants of the analyte. A number of
experimental approaches have been defined to determine this property, for
example, a comparison of the ratio between the results of two procedures
for the reference standard and for test samples. A commutable biological
reference standard shows a similar behaviour to routine samples when
different measurement procedures are applied. Generic specifications for
similarity are difficult to formulate and are addressed on a case-by-case
basis. Inclusion of real or surrogate clinical samples in the collaborative
study may be a useful approach to enable evaluation of commutability.
However, it should be noted that it can only be stated for the methods and
samples studied, and a more extensive evaluation of commutability may
require additional studies outside the WHO collaborative study.
In all fields of application, the extent to which commutability has been
established should be clearly identified, as should any specific limitations of
use identified in the commutability study. E

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 In line with developments in other fields of reference standard char-
acterization, a requirement to define what the biological reference
standard measures is included in these revised Guidelines.
In other fields this is referred to as definition of the “measurand”. For
biological reference standards the measurand may be a protein structure, a
biological activity or an immunological activity. In most cases, the definition
of the measurand will be reflected in the procedures used to characterize
and assign a value to the standard. Thus standards intended for calibration
of bioassays will generally be characterized using bioassay procedures,
those for immunoassays using immunoassay procedures, and so on.
Occasionally, and in particular in cases where the material is sufficiently
well characterized to allow a complete physicochemical description,
definition of the measurand may be achieved using a reference method
distinct from the routine assay procedures. This approach is comparable to
that used in clinical chemistry, for analytes which, although routinely
assayed by immunoassays, may be measured as defined molecular entities
by spectroscopic or other methods.
Examples include:
— the International Standard for somatropin (recombinant growth
hormone), used as a primary calibrator for clinical immunoassays for
growth hormone, is assigned a value in mg, traceable to amino-acid
analysis of a physicochemically defined preparation; and
— synthetic DNA standards, used in the calibration of PCR assays, may
be assigned a value based on phosphate determinations of a
physicochemically defined synthetic polynucleotide.

Part A. Recommendations for the preparation,

characterization and establishment of international
biological reference standards
A.1 Introduction
A.1.1 Background
WHO establishes international biological reference standards for
biological substances that are used in the prevention, treatment or
diagnosis of human diseases or conditions. This is to enable their
activity to be expressed in the same way throughout the world, in IU
or other units, as appropriate and so provide a consistent basis for
measurements.
The biological substances for which WHO establishes reference standards
often consist of a heterogeneous mixture of isoforms, often not well
characterized, and often in a complex matrix (such as serum/plasma).
A few biological reference standards have been established for prepa-
rations employed for the prevention, treatment or diagnosis of animal
diseases of relevance to humans.
E One example is anti-brucella arbortus serum.

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 International biological reference standards are not necessarily of
high purity. However, when one preparation is replaced by another,
every effort is made to ensure that the biological activity represented
by one IU remains constant even if the specific activity of the prepa-
ration alters. International biological reference standards are usually
available in relatively limited quantities and are intended to be used
for the characterization and calibration of secondary preparations,
whether of regional, national or more limited status; these secondary
preparations are then used routinely.

A.1.2 Definitions
Reference standards are materials that are used as calibrators in as-
says. WHO provides reference standards for a range of substances
which have been considered to be “biologicals” (see below), and
which includes, but is not restricted to proteins, antigens, vaccines,
antisera, blood products and nucleic acids. WHO reference standards
are provided for the calibration of assays based on interactions of
components of living systems, including those based on biological
function, immunological reactivity, enzyme activation and enzyme
amplification, and serve as global, “highest order” measurement
standards for the analytes they define.
The definition of a medicinal substance, used in treatment, prevention
or diagnosis, as a “biological” has been variously based on criteria
related to its source, its amenability to characterization by physico-
chemical means alone, the requirement for biological assays, or on
arbitrary systems of classification applied by regulatory authorities.
For the purposes of WHO, including the present document, the list of
substances considered to be biologicals is derived from their earlier
definition as “substances which cannot be fully characterized by
physicochemical means alone, and which therefore require the use of
some form of bioassay”. However, developments in the utility and
applicability of physicochemical analytical methods, improved con-
trol of biological and biotechnology-based production methods, and
an increased applicability of chemical synthesis to larger molecules,
have made it effectively impossible to base a definition of a biological
on any single criterion related to methods of analysis, source or
method of production. Establishment of WHO measurement stan-
dards for any substance or class of substances is therefore based on an
evaluation of current analytical methodologies, and where biological,
immunological or enzymological methods are employed, an evalua-
tion of the need for global measurement standards for calibration of
these methods. E

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 For example, certain small proteins, such as cytokines and hormones,
classed as “well-characterized”, are now considered to be appropriately
defined by physicochemical methods. Nonetheless, the need for biological
measurement standards may be dictated by the need to define the specific
activity of new products, or by the ongoing requirement to demonstrate
specific activity of production batches. In the diagnostics field, the
requirement for global measurement standards for otherwise well-
characterized proteins and other macromolecules is driven by the routine
use of comparative assay procedures such as immunoassays and nucleic
acid amplification tests, and by the absence of reference methods for the
definition of the analyte in absolute terms in reference materials.

The present document defines the major classes of WHO reference

standard, and sets out guidelines and criteria for their preparation,
characterization and establishment. The provisions of the document
apply to each of the three classes of WHO reference standard de-
scribed below, except where specific modifications are described.
The principal class of WHO reference standard is the international
biological measurement standard. These are substances, classed as
“biological” according to the criteria outlined above, which are pro-
vided to enable the results of biological assay or immunological assay
procedures to be expressed in the same way throughout the world.
The value assignment by WHO is in terms of an IU or another
suitable unit. Provided that the candidate material has been shown to
be suitable for its purpose, the unitage is attributed to a first interna-
tional standard in an arbitrary manner after an international collabo-
rative study has been completed. Activities in IUs are assigned to
replacement international standards, where appropriate, by compar-
ing them with the previous standard.
An example of an International Standard that is assigned a unitage other
than an IU is thromboplastin. The third International Standard for
thromboplastin, human, recombinant, plain, is assigned an international
sensitivity index of 0.940.

A reference reagent is a WHO reference standard, the activity of

which is defined by WHO in terms of a unit. This category of refer-
ence standard is intended to be interim and replacement of the refer-
ence reagents is not envisaged. Sufficient information should have
accrued in the period following establishment to allow consideration
of the reference reagent as an International Standard. Only when a
material established as an reference reagent is finally established as an
International Standard will the potency be expressed in IU. It is
expected that the formally assigned potency, in IU, following evalua-
tion in an international collaborative study, be identical to the as-
signed unitage. Assignation of a different value would only be done
on the basis of sound scientific reasons. Specific requirements for the
E establishment of reference reagents, as distinct from the general re-

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 quirements applicable to WHO International Biological Measure-
ment Standards, are set out in Section A.8.
The class of reference reagent was established in response to the speed of
development of some new biological products (6). A need often arises from
both regulatory and scientific considerations for reference standards with
an official status conferred by WHO to be made available before the clinical
utility of such new biological products becomes apparent. In such cases,
the full programme of establishment of an International Standard may not
be justified as the material may have limited use until the clinical utility of the
biological product is established. In order to shorten the time between the
preparation of a candidate material and its distribution, it is sufficient for a
limited number of laboratories to examine a characterized product and
agree to the assignment of potency as expressed in units. As a minimum,
the bulk material used in the preparation should have been shown to retain
biological activity consistent with the assigned unitage by a competent
laboratory, for example the manufacturer, and this biological activity
should have been confirmed by an independent laboratory, preferably a
WHO collaborating laboratory. The candidate preparation should be shown
to meet the specifications for filling and stability as defined in this
document. The WHO collaborating centre should provide WHO with the
necessary information on the source and characteristics of the preparation.
Physicochemical characterization should be included if at all possible. It is
not intended that such reference reagents should be product-specific.
Such proposals may be submitted to WHO (see section A.7 for the format
of collaborative study reports for reference standards).
An international reference panel is a group of reference materials
established to collectively aid evaluation of assays or diagnostic tests.
International reference panels comply in all respects with the general
requirements for WHO reference standards set out in this document,
except that in some cases it may not be necessary to assign unitages to
each individual member of a panel.

A.1.3 Glossary
In addition to the terms defined above, a number of the terms used
throughout this document merit further explanation. The meaning of
these terms in the context of this document is given in this glossary.

Baseline samples
Samples that are retained under optimal storage conditions to retain
biological or immunological activity and that are used for comparison
purposes. The baseline samples will need to be stored at a lower
temperature than that used for the reference standard.

Biological tests (bioassay)

A procedure for the estimation of the nature or potency of a material
by means of the reaction that follows its application to some elements
of a living system (examples include animals, tissues, cells, receptors E

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 and enzymes). The potency of the material being measured is often
defined in IUs or, in some circumstances, may be defined in SI units,
by comparison with the reaction of the system to that of a biological
reference preparation.

Continuity
The concept that measurements in terms of the IU defined by a
replacement reference standard are as similar as possible numerically
to measurements in terms of the IU defined by the previous reference
standard. This ensures that measurements made in biological and
immunological tests can be compared over time.

Commutability
In general terms the concept of commutability seeks to establish the
extent to which the reference standard is suitable to serve as a stan-
dard for the variety of samples being assayed. The way in which this
is done may vary according to the intended application. Details of
options for assessing commutability are given in the section on
General considerations.

Immunological tests
A procedure that requires the use of antigens and/or antibodies to
measure the analyte in a biological product or sample.

International unit
The unitage assigned by WHO to an International Biological
Standard.

In vitro diagnostic devices

Tests for the detection of infectious agents, such as blood-borne
pathogens that can be transmitted via blood and blood products, or
conditions such as pregnancy.

Secondary reference standards

Reference standards established by regional or national authorities,
or by other laboratories, that are calibrated against, and traceable
to, the primary WHO materials and are intended for use in routine
tests.

Traceability
Property of the result of a measurement or the value of a
standard whereby it can be related to stated references, usually
national or international standards, through an unbroken chain of
E comparisons.

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 Validation
Confirmation, through the provision of objective evidence, that
requirements for a specific intended use or application have been
fulfilled.

Uncertainty
An estimate attached to a test result that characterizes the range of
values within which the true value is asserted to lie.

A.1.4 Nomenclature issues for biological reference standards

During the course of the WHO programme on biological standardiza-
tion, some categories of reference standard have been established and
later discontinued, for example, international reference preparations
and international biological reference reagents.
To ensure transparency and to avoid any confusion in use or in the
literature, reference standards that were established in categories that are
now obsolete retain their designation and have not been reclassified.
However, when a preparation with an obsolete name is replaced, the new
nomenclature should be used. The pathway from one class of name to the
next should be clearly explained in the memorandum that accompanies the
reference standard.
WHO standards for any given substance are identified by the assigned
ordinate, as in the first International standard for . . . , the second
International Standard, etc. It should be recognized that great care
must be taken in the use of this system of nomenclature to avoid
confusion with primary and secondary (e.g. working) standards.
Where, as is usually the case, establishment of a second International
Standard is accompanied by disestablishment of the first International
Standard, it should be emphasized that the second standard has effec-
tively replaced the first as the highest order reference standard, and
critically, as the sole definition of the unit.
Although the source of some potential confusion about the hierarchy
of standards, as outlined above, this system of nomenclature has
proved useful in situations where the International Standard has been
replaced on a regular basis, particularly in the unambiguous identifi-
cation in the literature of which WHO standard published results are
related to.
The year of establishment of a WHO standard should be given in the
title of the document in which the preparation is decribed and also in
catalogues listing WHO reference materials, on the label (section
A.5.4) and in publications referring to the reference standard.
During the course of the WHO biological standardization
programme, a number of examples have arisen of a native reference E

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 standard (i.e. a reference standard derived from clinical material)
being replaced by a recombinant material. In this case, the recombi-
nant nature of the reference standard should be indicated in the title
of the documents describing the preparation.
An example would be the second International Standard for interferon B,
fibroblast which was replaced by the third International Standard for
interferon B, human, recombinant, glycoslyated (16).
When a native reference standard is replaced by a recombinant
material a number of factors should be considered.
It may be desirable to retain a sufficient stock of the replaced native material
so that any future new or replacement recombinant standard may be
calibrated against the native reference standard (7, p. 23). Consideration
should also be given to whether the native material should be
disestablished, or, in cases where native and recombinant material may
be regarded as separate analytes, retained as a separate standard.
Follicle stimulating hormone is an example of the application of the latter
principle.
An international non-proprietary name (INN) may be in existence for
the material for which a reference standard is established. Unless the
reference standard is intended to be used to standardize only that
material complying with the definition of the INN, the INN is not
included in the title of the material, but is included in the memoran-
dum sent out with that material.
The point is illustrated by the example of tissue plasminogen activator
(TPA). One preparation of recombinant TPA has been assigned the INN
alteplase. Although the International Standard for TPA was prepared from
alteplase, it is intended for use as a standard for TPA assays for TPA from
all sources, and has therefore been named as the International Standard for
TPA, rather than the International Standard for alteplase.
Where a reference standard is considered by the Expert Committee
on Biological Standardization to be suitable for a restricted use only,
this should be included in the name of the preparation.
An example would be “the first International Standard for a, for
immunoassay”.

A.1.5 Purpose of these recommendations

WHO designates certain centres as International Laboratories for
Biological Standards. These laboratories have the responsibilities of
serving as custodians and distributors of international biological ref-
erence standards. They have also been responsible for identifying
needs for such reference standards, obtaining the materials and pre-
paring and studying the batches either themselves or in collaboration
with other laboratories. The expansion of the scope of work under-
taken in biological standardization has led to a number of other
E laboratories and organizations becoming involved in making prepara-

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 tions that may ultimately be offered to WHO for consideration as
biological standards. For this reason, the WHO Expert Committee on
Biological Standardization has recommended that all proposals by
international associations and other bodies for the establishment of
international biological reference standards, should be submitted to
WHO so as to avoid duplication of effort (5, p. 29).
Part A of these Recommendations is intended to reflect best estab-
lished practice for the preparation, characterization and establish-
ment of international biological reference standards. It therefore
serves as guidance for any laboratory or organization that becomes
involved in the preparation and testing of candidate materials in-
tended for such a purpose.
Decisions on assigning priorities in developing WHO International
Standards or interim reference standards should be based on the
criteria specified in Appendix 1.

A.1.6 Safety considerations

Many biological materials, including those of human origin, intended
for the preparation of an international biological reference standard
must be considered as potentially hazardous. For reasons of safety in
handling and use, the material itself or its original matrix (e.g. blood)
must be obtained appropriately and screened for the presence of
infection or other safety hazard. Blood should be obtained from
donors who meet current international requirements (20). Non-
human animal proteins should meet current WHO requirements (21).
Screening will involve, as a minimum, the testing currently required for
human blood and plasma, for example, for the presence of hepatitis B
surface antigen and markers for HIV, hepatitis C virus and for other relevant
pathogens (21).
Tests for the presence of infectious markers (e.g. HIV markers) are not
required for reference standards intended for the diagnosis of that infection
(e.g. HIV infection), but suitable evidence of proper inactivation should be
provided. The geographical area from which the source material is obtained
should be recorded.
The actual or potential infectivity of biological materials of non-
human origin, especially those derived from viruses or bacteria,
should be taken into account. Suitable procedures may be applied to
inactivate microorganisms or their components and the effectiveness
of this inactivation should be demonstrated.
The impact of any inactivation process on the fitness for purpose of the
candidate standard should be investigated.
Furthermore, it is essential that appropriate precautions are taken to
ensure that shipments of biological reference preparations comply E

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 with international regulations on transport of infectious substances
(22).
It is essential that suitable precautions are taken in the user laborato-
ries during handling and disposal of biological materials to avoid
possible infection. This is particularly important when the material
is known or intended to be infectious. A safety data sheet (see
Appendix 2) is provided with each reference standard.

A.2 Quality assurance

A.2.1 Quality management system
Biological reference standards should be obtained, processed, stored
and dispatched under a defined quality management system. Interna-
tional recommendations are available from ISO (23, 24). It is desir-
able that the quality management system be assessed as satisfactory
by an independent body.
Other essential components of the process of standards development
may be partly or entirely outside the control of the organizing or
coordinating laboratory. These include:
— preparation and characterization of candidate materials in donor
laboratories;
— characterization of candidate materials and trial formulations in
testing laboratories;
— contribution of WHO and other consultative committees to study
design;
— performance of testing by participants in collaborative studies;
and
— review of data and formal establishment by the Expert Committee
on Biological Standardization.
Although such activities may fall outside the possible scope of a
formal quality system, it is strongly recommended that processes and
documentation compliant with recognized quality standards, are,
implemented and followed as far as possible.
Managing organizations are encouraged to review continuously the entire
process of standards development, from the initial sourcing of material
through to the laboratories participating in the collaborative studies, with a
view to bringing essential and controllable aspects of the process within
defined quality management systems.

A.2.2 Records
It is essential that complete records are kept, in compliance with
E quality system requirements, relating to, inter alia:

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 — the background and proposals for preparation of the intended
reference standard;
— the responsible persons and their defined roles;
— certificates of analysis of bulk materials intended for use as an
international reference standard. If this is plasma or serum based,
such information as is available about the donors should be included:
Information about donors may include details of the donation centre, the
gender and age of donors, and records of ethical approval for the
donations.
— the procedures and tests which have been performed before, dur-
ing and after filling into containers, including quality control tests
for residual moisture and homogeneity;
— stability studies;
— raw data from collaborative studies;
— reports and recommendations;
— records of agreement or otherwise of participants; and
— storage, inventory and dispatch of the reference standard.
Such records form the basis of the IU as the fundamental unit of
measurement for any given analyte. They should therefore be re-
tained even after a standard is replaced, and should be kept until such
time as the International Standard, and hence the IU, is discontinued
and not replaced.

A.2.3 Validation of methods

The quality system should clearly identify critical equipment and
technology and set out procedures for validating and maintaining its
functionality. Such critical equipment includes, but is not restricted to:
— liquid handling equipment for dispensing into ampoules/vials;
— freeze-driers;
— isolators for sterile fills;
— ampoule/vial sealing equipment;
— equipment for carrying out in-process controls;
— air-filtration equipment for maintenance of sterile/clean rooms;
— sterilization, washing and water purification equipment; and
— storage equipment.

A.3 Assessment of need and procurement of materials

A.3.1 Assessment of need
International biological reference standards may be needed for:
— the assay or characterization of a biological product approved, or
intended for approval, for use in medical practice and distributed
in more than one country; E

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 — the identification of a biological material of importance in medical
or laboratory practice; or
— the calibration of regional, national or laboratory biological refer-
ence standards.
The WHO Expert Committee on Biological Standardization will not
normally establish biological reference standards intended solely for
research purposes.
Exceptions are made where the availability of biological reference
standards for research purposes may be of international public health
significance. An example would be the WHO Reference Reagent for human
brain, variant CJD, established to facilitate research to develop assays to
detect the agent of variant Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease (vCJD) (17, pp.23–
24).
When a need for an international biological reference standard is
identified by another organization, it is essential that WHO should be
informed of this and of whether that organization intends to proceed
with preparation of the material, so as to avoid unnecessary duplica-
tion of effort. Coordination with other standard-setting bodies is im-
portant in this respect.
A decision tree (Appendix 1) aids allocation of priority to requests for
new and replacement biological reference standards.

A.3.2 Nature, source and storage of bulk material

A fundamental tenet of biological standardization is that the
behaviour of the reference standard should resemble as closely as
possible that of the test samples in the assay systems used to test them.
Choice of candidate materials should reflect this principle of assaying
“like against like”.
The bulk material selected should have a high degree of stability and
a specific activity or concentration sufficient for the purposes of the
assays or tests for which it is to be used. Although the material does
not necessarily have to be of the highest purity, no other substances
present should interfere with the procedures in which the material is
to be employed.
Generally speaking, the nature of the candidate material will reflect the
current “state of the art” for any given analyte. Thus a therapeutic protein will
generally be essentially pure, and will be provided with a certificate of
release describing its specific biological activity, its physicochemical
characterization, and its freedom from significant contaminants. Plasma
products will be representative of current manufacturing capability, and in
addition will be provided with certificates demonstrating compliance with
current safety and ethical requirements. Vaccine preparations will represent
current practice in preparation of microbial immunogens. Where the nature
E of the reference standard does not permit such detailed characterization

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 (e.g. plasma antibodies) then the characterization of the bulk material
should, as a minimum, describe the biological activity in relation to the
activity intended to be standardized.

The bulk material will usually be obtained from a single source. It

may consist of part or all of a single batch. This may be difficult to
achieve for standards derived from human plasma, in which case a
small number of large samples, rather than a large number of small
samples are the preferred source material.
For bulk materials manufactured by an industrial process, a certificate of
analysis of the batch(es) should be provided by the donor of the bulk
material. This information will not be disclosed to users without permission
from the donor.

If it is necessary to prepare the bulk by pooling material from more

than one batch or source, the procedure employed should ensure that
the pooled material is mixed thoroughly and is homogeneous. For
bulk liquids containing proteins, care should be taken to avoid dena-
turation during mixing. In addition to any studies that may have been
made on the individual batches before pooling, the suitability of the
homogeneous blend should be demonstrated.
When the bulk material used for, or the filled final batch of containers
of, an international biological reference standard is of commercial
origin, this fact should not be used for advertising purposes.
In order to serve as an international reference standard, a sufficient
number of final filled containers of the bulk material should be avail-
able to meet the estimated demand, preferably for at least 10 years.
The approaches to be taken for the eventual replacement of a stan-
dard should be considered when the proposals for preparation of the
intended reference standard are drawn up.
To minimize any discontinuity of unitage, for example, in standards for
complex diagnostic analytes where a wide range of assays of different
specificities are supported, these approaches may include:
• obtaining and holding excess candidate bulk materials to allow
replacement with identical material; or
• where long-term stability can be verified, extending the life of the
standard by preparing larger fills, up to 20 000 ampoules.
The amount of bulk material needed for filling will depend on the
estimated demand: a smaller quantity will suffice if the material is
expected to be used by only a few laboratories.
The bulk material must be stored under suitable conditions before
being distributed into final containers. Advice on optimum storage
conditions should be obtained from the producer of the material
before receipt of the batch. Sufficient samples to allow all necessary
testing to be conducted should be removed from the bulk before it is E

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 placed in storage. These samples should be stored under the same
conditions as the bulk until they are tested.
Bulk materials may be stored in the dried form, provided that they
can be dried without losing their biological activity and that, on being
reconstituted, they retain adequate activity and have appropriate
physical properties. Liquid bulk materials should usually be stored
frozen and special precautions should be taken to achieve proper
freezing. Liquid bulk materials may be stored at 2–8 °C provided that
they are sterile or contain an antimicrobial preservative. In all cases,
the containers of bulk material should be able to withstand the condi-
tions of freezing, storage, thawing, opening and, if applicable, freeze-
drying. In all cases, the storage conditions should ensure that the
biological activity of the material is conserved.

A.4 Distribution into final containers

A.4.1 General considerations
An important requirement to be met by a batch of an international
biological reference standard is that the material in every final con-
tainer in the batch should be within specified limits, as defined below,
in terms of composition, quantity, potency and stability.
In order that all the samples of a preparation are homogeneous, they
should all be derived from the same homogeneous bulk, and should
all be processed together in one working session. Processing should
be performed in an environment with an appropriate low bioburden
level. The bulk material is distributed, usually in liquid form to
achieve high precision of fill, into a number of suitable containers.
The contents of the containers are dried from the frozen state. This
process may also be applied to insoluble solids that can be suspended
in a suitable liquid. Materials that cannot be dried satisfactorily may,
after dispensing, be stored as liquids provided that stability is retained
under the storage conditions employed.
Suitable safety precautions should be taken to protect personnel and
the environment from exposure to any potentially infectious or harm-
ful material.

A.4.2 Treatment of liquid bulk materials

The choice of process and the extent of processing required for pre-
paring the final bulk for filling will depend on whether the liquid bulk
is a true solution, a colloid or a suspension. In all cases the processing
should ensure that the product is homogeneous during filling, and
measures should be taken at all stages to avoid contamination of the
E material. Liquids may have to be treated chemically or physically to

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 control microbial contamination or to remove particles or aggregates
of active material. Water-soluble materials are dissolved at a suitable
concentration in diluents, buffers or stabilizing solutions.
These solutions should be prepared from water of a purity comparable to
double glass distilled water, or higher, and pyrogen-free where appropriate.
If inclusion of an antimicrobial preservative is necessary, it should be
one that will not affect the intended use of the preparation or volatil-
ize during the drying process, and will not decrease the stability of the
preparation.
The choice of preservative is an important consideration because some
countries place restrictions on acceptable preservatives. The choice of
preservative should be justified and records of this retained.
Cresol, phenol or sodium azide (which may form explosive compounds with
metals) should not be used as preservatives in a preparation that is to be
freeze-dried.
A biologically active substance is frequently present in a container of
the reference standard in such small amounts that a bulking agent has
to be present in the solution for filling to allow a visible freeze-dried
plug of suitable size to be formed. In some instances, added materials
are chosen to prevent or limit adsorption of the active substance on to
the internal glass wall of the container and structural changes
affecting biological activity that may occur during freeze-drying. No
added substance should have adverse effects on the activity of the
material or interfere with the assay or test for which the preparation
is intended.
If a protein carrier, such as human albumin is used, it should comply with
current requirements for blood products for freedom from contamination
(20, 21) and proteolytic enzymes should be minimal. The use of certain
sugars, particularly those with reducing groups (e.g. lactose) as bulking
agents should be avoided as they can form stable complexes with amino
groups in proteins.
Preliminary freeze-drying trials with extensive analysis of the dried
material may be necessary to establish that an added substance has
not affected the desired characteristics and potency of the active
material. Such studies may include investigating the stability of the
reconstituted trial preparation.
It is normal practice for the contents of each container to be sufficient
for several analyses or assays. However, after reconstitution of a
lyophilized material, it may be desirable to subdivide the resulting
solution into several containers, each sufficient only for one or two
assays. These containers must be stored in such a way that their
contents remain unchanged. For scarce materials, the amount chosen
to be filled into each container should take into account the need to
conserve the material. E

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 A.4.3 Treatment of solid bulk materials
It is recommended that filling solid bulk materials be avoided. How-
ever, materials that are insoluble in water or less stable in a freeze-
dried form may have to be distributed into containers as powders. In
such a case, special precautions should be taken to ensure that both
the bulk material and the samples taken from it are homogeneous.
Special mixing and sampling devices may be necessary.

A.4.4 Quality of final containers

Heat-sealed ampoules are used in preference to stoppered vials for
international reference standards. A sealed glass ampoule does not
allow exchange of gases and moisture with the atmosphere and the
long-term stability of biological materials is generally much greater
under these conditions.
Stoppered vials may be used for certain types of biological material,
such as infectious preparations. Vials with rubber or elastomer stop-
pers may also be considered for the preparation of international
reference standards that are used for qualitative purposes.
Where possible, a small number of sealed glass ampoules of the material
should also be prepared so that a baseline is available for checking stability
should the need arise.
Containers should be of neutral (borosilicate) glass type I of appropri-
ate quality, for example complying with the current requirements of
the European Pharmacopoeia or the US Pharmacopeia. The glass
must be free from stresses and the containers must be able to with-
stand sterilization by heat and temperature stresses, such as those
resulting from rapid freezing to −80 °C. Actinic (brown) glass may be
necessary for photosensitive materials but does not allow the contents
to be seen clearly. If stoppered vials are used, the closures should be
of appropriate quality, for example complying with current pharma-
copoeial requirements for closures for injections.
Containers and closures should not affect the stability of biological
standards and this may be shown through validation studies.
The volume of the containers used depends on the amount of material
required in each but a capacity of about 5 ml is generally suitable for
fills up to 1 ml in volume.
A specification for the purchase of containers, and if necessary clo-
sures, should be established. Batches intended for use should be
shown to conform to the specification. The shape and size of am-
poules should be such that they can be filled easily, sealed by fusion of
the glass without adverse effects on the contents, opened easily and
E their contents removed without difficulty.

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 It is advisable to use flat-bottomed ampoules for preparations to be
lyophilized as this ensures good thermal conductivity between the bottom of
the ampoule and the top of the shelf in the freeze-drier.
The containers should be cleaned by a process that does not
involve use of a detergent. If the clean containers are to be stored at
any time before filling, they should be placed in sealed dust-proof
containers.
Cleaning without detergents may be done by heating in distilled water in an
autoclave, by steaming in hydrochloric acid (20 g/l), or by acetic acid (2%
v/v), or by ultrasonic treatment. The containers should then be rinsed
several times with clean water and finally with distilled water. Steam
admitted to autoclaves for cleaning or sterilization of glassware must be free
from any volatile or non-volatile compounds that may be present as a result
of the use of boiler-water additives. If steaming in hydrochloric acid is
carried out in an autoclave, great care must be taken to remove residual
traces of the acid from the autoclave afterwards. The washed containers
should then be sterilized by dry heat in a clean, grease-free and silicone-
free oven.

A.4.5 Distribution into containers

A.4.5.1 General considerations
Containers are usually filled before labelling.
Each container in the batch either should be permanently marked with
some form of in-process identification of the material being filled or a quality
system should be in place to assure the separation of containers from
different batches.
If containers are marked, the form of marking should not scratch the surface
of the glass.
Containers should be filled from a single homogeneous bulk material.
A liquid bulk should be stirred continuously during filling and held at
constant temperature to ensure that homogeneity is maintained
throughout the filling process. Exposure to direct sunlight should be
avoided.
Filling should be carried out in a clean environment, for example
a clean room or in a laminar-flow cabinet equipped with a high
efficiency particulate arrestor (HEPA) filter to avoid any form of
contamination.
Criteria for the quality of the air, or for the performance of air filtering
systems should be written into the quality control specification, and relevant
parameters monitored accordingly.
A sample for testing cannot be assayed more accurately than the
reference standard against which it is compared. Because a reference
standard in the dried state has to be reconstituted, thus introducing
further variability, the precision of fill should be as high as
possible and the coefficient of variation as low as possible to minimize E

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 inaccuracy of assay. Assays of biological materials often differ
considerably in their reproducibility. In setting a target precision of
fill (maximum coefficient of variation) for a biological reference stan-
dard for quantitative measurement, regard should be paid to the
reproducibility inherent in the assay procedure(s) in which it will be
used.
There is no formal pass or fail criterion for the production quality control
parameters given below. The important criterion is fitness for purpose.
Nevertheless the criteria specified below are expectations that are fulfilled
by the vast majority of WHO biological reference standards.

A.4.5.2 Liquid fills

For each filling run, about 1–2% of the containers should be
selected and weighed before and after filling to check the variation in
the amount (volume or mass) filled into each container. The precision
of fill or coefficient of variation (standard deviation divided by
the mean) can be derived from the data obtained. The sample
should be assessed for any consistent significant change in filling
weights over the course of the process. The containers should be
selected according to a procedure designed by a biometrician to
ensure as far as possible that the sample is representative of the
filling run.
The nature of a liquid influences the precision with which it can be
dispensed for filling. A coefficient of variation not greater than 0.0025,
that is 0.25%, is achievable for aqueous solutions with a 1-ml fill
volume. However, more viscous liquids cannot usually be dispensed
with this degree of precision. For liquids such as plasma or cellular
materials, a coefficient of variation on a 1-ml fill of <1% is realistic. In
cases where a reference standard is not to be freeze-dried, the volume
filled into the container should be slightly in excess of the volume
intended to be extracted by the user.

A.4.5.3 Powder fills

It is recommended that powder fills be avoided. Powder fills have
been used in the past when the amount of material is not a limiting
factor. They may be necessary for water-insoluble materials.
Most powders can be fed into containers by means of an automatic
filler, but spoons of suitable size may also be used. Large variations
in the amount per container may be unavoidable although this may be
unimportant if an exact quantity of the contents is weighed out at the
time of use. Special precautions will be necessary for solids that are
hygroscopic or efflorescent as well as for those that may acquire an
E electrostatic charge and stick to the inside of the container.

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 A.5 Processing of filled containers
A.5.1 General considerations
International standards should be prepared using conditions in which
it has been demonstrated that the biological activity and other signifi-
cant properties of the material are not degraded or lost, that the
activity of the final preparation is stable, and that the biological,
physical and chemical properties of the standard are compatible with
its intended use. Where the standard is a replacement, much of this
information will already be available. However, new standards will
require research and development to determine suitable conditions
and formulations. This is achieved by carrying out and analysing
small-scale trial fills, using conditions that mimic as closely as possible
those used in the large-scale definitive fill. The programme of re-
search and development should be clearly identified and recorded.
The records should also specify details of baseline samples that have
been retained for comparison purposes; samples should included both
non-freeze-dried samples stored at −150°C (frozen baselines), and
also freeze-dried samples stored at −150 °C.
The processing of filled containers should be completed under opti-
mal conditions. It is essential to ensure that all the containers in a
batch are processed together from the time of filling until the process
is complete so that they are subjected to the same conditions at the
same time. Only one material should be processed at a time in the
freeze-drier because cross-contamination has been demonstrated to
occur when more than one material is present.
Ampoules should only be sealed by fusion of the glass. If stoppered
vials are used, it should be borne in mind that rubber or elastomer
closures may be unsatisfactory for long-term storage because their
physical properties may change and they may allow exchange of gases
with the surroundings.
Samples should be taken at appropriate times during processing so
that the baseline properties and potency of the material may be
assessed. The samples, suitably sealed, should be preserved in the
vapour phase of liquid nitrogen. They can be used to evaluate the
effects of processing on the biological material and to confirm, for
example, that there has been no change in composition or loss of
biological activity.

A.5.2 Processing of materials that are to be freeze-dried

A.5.2.1 Freezing
The freezing process is very complex. When liquid containing water is
frozen, pure ice forms first and the dissolved components become E

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 progressively concentrated in the remaining solution. Electrolytes
usually crystallize, but biological materials such as proteins and carbo-
hydrates usually do not. Instead the viscosity of the solution increases
to the point where it can be considered to be a glass and the whole
liquid has become solid, i.e. completely frozen. The liquid in the
containers should be frozen to a sufficiently low temperature to en-
sure that this condition is reached.
This requires a temperature between about −20 °C for sodium chloride
solution to about −50 °C for serum, but sometimes a liquid does not begin
to freeze until well below its apparent “freezing temperature”, a
phenomenon known as “supercooling”. The temperature at which any given
solution is completely frozen should be determined in a preliminary study by
a technique such as differential thermal analysis. Measurement of changes
in electrical resistivity is less sensitive.
Depending on the rate of cooling and the temperature reached, the
greatly increased salt concentration and pH changes in buffers may
damage proteins and result in loss of their biological activity. Some
antibodies, clotting factors and enzymes are known to denature
during the freezing process. Thus, the rate and temperature at which
the material is frozen are important in preserving its activity and
solubility, and the most suitable conditions should be determined
experimentally. Sometimes, the precise conditions for successful
freeze-drying of a given liquid can only be deduced from experience
with similar freeze-drying operations.

A.5.2.2 Freeze-drying
The filled containers are usually processed in a shelf freeze-drier. The
containers are arranged, usually on trays from which the base can be
withdrawn, on temperature-controlled shelves in an evacuated cham-
ber. The temperature of the material in the containers should be
recorded continuously. If heat is applied to the shelves during the
process, care should be taken to ensure that it is applied uniformly.
Water vapour sublimes from the ice in the frozen liquid and forms as
ice on a condenser at a lower temperature than that of the shelves.
Sublimation of water draws heat from the material in the containers
which is replaced by heat from the shelves. Thermal conductivity is
aided by removing the tray bases during the process.
The duration of the freeze-drying process should be validated and
extend well beyond that found experimentally to be the minimum
necessary because the temperature gradient between the walls of the
chamber and the centre of a shelf can result in different rates of
freeze-drying.
Between batches the freeze-drier should be cleaned and sterilized
E using validated procedures.

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 A.5.2.3 Further drying
The technical capabilities, such as low chamber pressure and low
condenser temperature, of modern freeze-driers may reduce the need
for further drying. Secondary desiccation was originally introduced
because the earlier freeze-driers were less efficient and it was neces-
sary to further reduce residual moisture. For some materials requiring
very low residual moisture it may still be used.

A.5.2.4 Sealing
All lyophilized materials are hygroscopic. It is, therefore, essential
that containers of the lyophilized reference standard are sealed, using
validated methods, as soon as possible after drying is complete. Expo-
sure to atmospheric moisture and oxygen should be kept to a mini-
mum and should be the same for all containers in the batch. Devices
are available to minimize uptake of moisture and oxygen (see for
example, 25, 26).
The containers should be sealed in such a way as to preserve the
integrity of the contents over the intended shelf-life of the prepara-
tion. Ampoules should be sealed by fusion of the glass by drawing
either under vacuum or after filling with dry nitrogen.
Ampoules can be tested individually for pinholes and cracks, usually by
immersion in a bath of dye under reduced pressure. Ampoules containing
a vacuum can be tested with a high frequency coil. All defective ampoules
should be discarded. A suitable validation procedure may replace the need
to test individual ampoules.
Vials may be sealed with rubber or elastomer caps usually held in place
with an aluminium cover. On occasion, screw-capped vials may be used.
The sealed containers should be labelled, stored at an appropriate
temperature, and protected from light. The storage temperature is
usually −20 °C but may be lower.

A.5.3 Procedure where freeze-drying is not used

When liquid or solid preparations are not to be freeze-dried, the
containers holding them may be filled with an appropriate gas before
sealing.
This may be achieved by placing the filled containers in a chamber that is
evacuated and filled with the pure, dry, inert gas. This process should be
repeated several times to remove residual air and moisture. The containers
are then sealed.

A.5.4 Labelling
Each container must be marked with an identifying code unique to
the batch which permits positive identification throughout the filling
process. Materials intended to serve as international biological E

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 reference standards must not be labelled as such until they have been
formally established by the WHO Expert Committee on Biological
Standardization. Once this is done, each container in the batch should
be labelled to show the following items of information:
• The name “World Health Organization”.
• The name and status of the preparation in the form “ International
Standard (or Reference Reagent) for . . .”.
• The year in which the reference standard was established by the
WHO Expert Committee on Biological Standardization.
• The unique code allocated by the filling laboratory to enable the
batch to be identified.
• The storage conditions recommended for the material.
• A statement that the material is not for use in humans.
If the size of the label permits, the following information may also be
shown. If the size of the label is not sufficient, this information must
be given in the instructions for use that accompany the standard:
• The potency or other parameter assigned to the reference standard.
This is usually the number of IUs per container, but may be the
mass of solid containing one IU; or the number of IUs per
milligram.
• The name and address of the organization designated to hold and
distribute the material.
• A statement that the material should be used as directed in the
instructions for use (package insert, safety data sheet) accompany-
ing the reference standard.

A.5.5 Characterization of the final product in the container

The residual moisture content and residual oxygen content of the final
product in the container should be determined and evidence of free-
dom from microbial contamination obtained. The final product in the
container should be tested and found satisfactory for potency or
biological activity, as appropriate.
There is no formal pass or fail criterion for the production quality control
parameters given below. The essential criterion is fitness for purpose.
Nevertheless the criteria specified below are expectations that are fulfilled
by the vast majority of WHO biological reference standards.
If a validated process is used, then tests are not needed on every standard.

A.5.5.1 Residual moisture content

This is determined using final containers to verify that drying has been
adequate but not so excessive that the nature of the material has been
E changed.

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 The number of containers to be tested depends on the test methods to be
used, and the lot size of the batch; the number is determined by reference
to a predefined sampling plan. Various methods of determination are
available of which the coulometric Karl Fischer method is the most widely
used. Preparations with a moisture content of less than 1% (w/w) have
shown adequate long-term stability. Higher values e.g. 5%, may be suitable
in some cases. Because lyophilized materials are hygroscopic, precautions
are necessary to avoid moisture uptake during the measurement
procedure.

A.5.5.2 Residual oxygen content

The number of containers to be tested depends on the test methods to be
used, and the lot size of the batch; the number is determined by reference
to a predefined sampling plan. Residual oxygen is determined using at
least three containers to confirm that the atmosphere within the container is
inert and that the material is protected against oxidative change. Oxygen
levels below 45 μmol/l when determined at atmospheric pressure using, for
example, an oxygen fuel cell meter or mass spectrometer have been shown
to ensure adequate long-term stability.
Residual oxygen determinations may not be needed on every new batch of
ampoules if the process is adequately validated.

A.5.5.3 Characteristics and potency or biological activity

It is essential that the biological material in the container is demon-
strated to have retained its integrity, composition and potency, or
biological activity, using appropriate methods.

A.5.6 Stability of the final product

Determination of the stability of reference standards, i.e. establishing
the rate of loss of potency or activity, under a variety of conditions is
desirable for three reasons:
• To provide an estimate of the length of time for which the reference
standard will remain suitable for its intended purpose under its
defined storage conditions.
• To define appropriate conditions for distribution of the reference
standard to users.
• To determine the extent to which the reference standard will retain
its activity over time after reconstitution.
In most cases, no independent scale of measurement is available for
the reference standard which itself serves to define its unit of activity,
and hence no direct method of estimating the rate of loss of potency
of the reference standard under its defined storage conditions is
possible. Indirect and approximate methods are therefore used for
determining the rate of loss. These methods are generally based on
the relationship between reaction rates and temperature given by
the Arrhenius equation and a first-order reaction rate is frequently E

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 assumed. Use of these methods requires that samples of the reference
standard are stored at a range of elevated temperatures and tested for
potency relative to samples of the reference standard stored at lower
temperatures.
Kirkwood (27–28) has described an iterative procedure based on a
maximum likelihood approach for estimation of the parameters of the
equation relating degradation rate to temperature.
Many biological products appear to exhibit Arrhenius-type behaviour over
a modest range of temperatures. However, as this relationship is
approximate, particularly over wide temperature ranges, caution must be
exercised in accepting the predicted rates of reaction. Reference
standards are designed to be stable under defined storage conditions, and
may also show no apparent loss of potency after storage at elevated
temperatures. Experience has shown that reconstitution may be difficult for
some reference standards after storage at high temperatures. Such factors
must be taken into account when designing degradation studies. Lack of
detectable degradation, and consequent lack of predicted stability, does
not preclude the establishment of an International Standard.
An example of an International Standard where data appeared to follow the
Arrhenius equation is the International Standard for thrombin, which gave a
predicted loss of activity at −20 °C of less than 0.1% per year (30).
Data from the thermally accelerated degradation study may also be used to
predict likely loss of activity at higher temperatures which may occur during
distribution of the reference standard, and these data may be used to
define appropriate conditions for distribution.

The selection of suitable analytical methods for monitoring the stabil-

ity depends on the nature and intended use of the substance. The
number of laboratories involved in stability studies is generally fewer
than the number involved in the main collaborative study to assess the
suitability of the candidate material.
Expiry dates are not assigned to biological reference standards,
providing that long-term stability is predicted on the basis of existing
data. In some circumstances further study, or monitoring on a
case-by-case basis, taking into account data obtained from a thermally
accelerated degradation study, may be recommended by the
Expert Committee on Biological Standardization. If there is a change
in storage conditions of the reference standard at the custodian
laboratory, new stability studies are required. Some samples of the
reference standard should be stored at temperatures lower than the
customary storage temperature when the standard is initially pre-
pared, to provide a low-temperature baseline for long-term stability
studies.
For example, in an international collaborative study of the International
Standard for thyroid stimulating hormone for immunoassay (31) samples
were held at the storage temperature of −20 °C and baseline samples held
E at −150 °C for 7371 days (20 years); no difference was measured in the

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 stability of the samples held at the two temperatures. The loss of activity for
the preparation, coded 81/565, stored continuously at −20 °C was 0.04%
per year.
Available information about the stability of the material after recon-
stitution should be given to users. Other information on factors that
may affect the properties of the reconstituted material, e.g. adsorp-
tion to particular types of container, should also be given.
This type of information will be limited because the conditions of
reconstitution and storage generally cannot be extensively studied
during collaborative studies.
Users are encouraged to send to WHO or the custodian laboratory,
accounts of their experience in the use of the reference standard
under routine laboratory conditions.

A.6 International collaborative studies

An international collaborative study must be carried out before any
candidate biological reference standard can be considered for estab-
lishment by the WHO Expert Committee on Biological Standardiza-
tion. The amount of work and resources required to carry out such a
study should not be underestimated. For standardization projects
carried out by WHO standardization laboratories or other WHO
collaborating centres, WHO, through the Expert Committee on
Biological Standardization, should be informed of the intention of
the collaborating laboratory to undertake the work and have given
agreement, in principle, to consider establishment of the candidate
material, to avoid unnecessary or duplicated work. In agreeing, in
principle, to the undertaking of work leading to the establishment
of an International Standard, WHO may, either through Expert
Committee on Biological Standardization or through the activities of
working groups with vested responsibility for specific topics, make
recommendation on the broad outline of studies to be pursued. The
Expert Committee on Biological Standardization will not normally
contribute to the specific detail of collaborative study design.
In some circumstances, WHO may establish collaborative links
with other standardization organizations jointly to pursue specific
standardization projects which have been prioritized and initiated
independently. It is nonetheless desirable that through the Expert
Committee on Biological Standardization, WHO prioritizes and
endorses such projects before completion and establishment of the
standard.
Collaborative studies should be organized by one or more scientist(s)
familiar with the appropriate biological field, working closely with an E

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 experienced biometrician, and according to the general principles set
out below.

A.6.1 Aims of a collaborative study

The purpose of a collaborative study is to demonstrate that the candi-
date international biological reference standard is suitable for its
intended use. A list of potential aims of the study are given below, but
not all of these aims can be covered in a single study:
• Confirmation that the biological material has the properties and
activity expected of it.
• Demonstration that the candidate reference standard is suitable for
calibration of other reference standards or examination of prepara-
tions from a variety of manufacturers or sources.
• For reference standards intended for use in the diagnostics field, an
assessment of commutability to clinical samples, where appropriate
and feasible, should be considered.
• Comparison of two or more candidate materials.
• Assignment of a potency or other parameter to the contents of the
containers.
• Whether different assay methods (e.g. bioassays and immuno-
assays, in vivo and in vitro assays) measure the same or different
properties of a proposed reference standard. This may include
assessment of the effects of biologically active contaminants.
• Comparison of a replacement batch with the current reference
standard.
• Provision of a reference standard for a substance for which vali-
dated assay methods are not available.
An example is the WHO human CJD reference panel that was established
in 2003 and is intended for assay validation (17).
• Assessment of the stability of the proposed reference standard.
• Assessment of the molecular integrity and composition of the refer-
ence standard.
The aims of the study should be defined at the outset, if appropriate
in consultation with WHO and potential participants.
An international collaborative study of a candidate biological reference
standard is a scientific study designed to provide soundly based
information for the Expert Committee on Biological Standardization on the
characteristics of a proposed standard and its likely suitability for the
intended use. Collaborative studies provide valuable scientific information
about the materials studied and the assay systems in current use which
could not be obtained by any one laboratory.

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 A.6.2 Planning and design
An international collaborative study for the characterization of a
biological standard should be based on the principles of biological
assay, designed according to sound statistical principles, and analysed
and interpreted following sound statistical and biological principles.
Although there is no generic design for a collaborative study, the
principles set out below should be followed.
The details of the proposed collaborative study, and the underlying
scientific rationale should, in all cases, be recorded, and these records
retained throughout the time the standard is in use.
Each study is unique and requires up-to-date scientific knowledge about
the structure and function of the biological material, the nature of assays
currently available, the availability of potential study materials and the
availability of potential participants. This requires the participation of both a
biological scientist and a biometrician, ideally with experience of such
studies, to bring together experience of the biological material and the
bioassays for it.
The rationale for the proposed study design and the proposed statistical
methods for analysis of the study should be outlined. It may be necessary
to change both study design and methods of analysis to reflect the data
which the participants are able to submit.

A key decision that will influence the study design is the choice of unit
(IU or SI) intended to be assigned to the candidate reference stan-
dard. The choice of unit, and rationale for the choice, should be
explicitly stated in the study protocol. If the study is of a replacement
reference standard, the way in which continuity of the IU will be
addressed is the key consideration in the study design and should be
explicitly stated in the study protocol. The aim of continuity is that the
IUs defined by a replacement reference standard are as similar as
possible numerically to measurements in terms of the IUs defined by
the previous reference standard. This is to ensure that measurements
made in biological and immunological tests can be compared over
time.
It is necessary to decide which samples will be examined in the study.
For example, test materials other than the candidate reference
standard(s) may have to be obtained. Inclusion of too many samples
should be avoided.
As an example, normal plasma pools may be included in studies of
candidate reference standards for blood coagulation factors as a cross-
check for the continuity of the IU. In such cases, the study report should
provide details of the normal donor pools used to obtain the normal plasma
pool.

The study should be designed so that each assay generates internal

evidence allowing assessment of statistical validity (for example, E

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 evidence of linearity and parallelism for parallel-line assays) and pre-
cision (32).
The number of participants will depend on the nature of the study,
taking account of its aims, the number and type of assay systems
included, the materials to be studied, the number of possible par-
ticipants and their resources, and the capacity of the various assay
systems.
Where appropriate, working groups may be formed to facilitate the
development of standards. Guidance may be provided on the methods to
be used and the selection of laboratories.
If the study is complex in design, or new test procedures are being
used, it may be necessary to include more participants than would be
required, for example, for a study of a replacement standard using a
well-defined pharmacopoeial assay method. If a new international
biological reference standard is to be established with a defined unit
of activity, a method for measuring the desired activity should
exist already. If several assay methods are available, the material
chosen should be suitable for use with as many of them as possible.
The majority of studies are likely to include between five and 25
participants.
An example of an international collaborative study conducted according to
the principles outlined above, was the study to establish the International
Standard for low molecular weight heparin (2003) (16).
Participants may be asked to carry out a specified minimum number
of independent assays, or, if the assay procedure is known to be
imprecise, a number sufficient to provide a mean estimate of accept-
able precision. Duplicate assays may be requested. An independent
assay is defined as one made using fresh dilutions from a newly
opened container or a new weighing of each material and carried out
on separate days. A duplicate assay is a repeat assay using the same
solutions. Because it does not include all the variables of weighing and
dilution, it is not truly independent.

A.6.3 Participants and their role

The participants may be national control laboratories, relevant manu-
facturers, academic or health care laboratories. The supplier of the
material may also be a participant. Because the ultimate purpose of
the study is the establishment of an international reference standard,
competent laboratories representative of the six WHO regions should
be included whenever possible.
Potential participants in the collaborative study should be given an
E outline of the aims of the study and a description of the materials to

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 be included. If it is intended that participants use the same assay
method, a protocol for the procedure should be provided and suffi-
cient time allowed for laboratories to become familiar with the
method. Potential participants should be asked to indicate:
— the assay methods that they could use;
— whether they could compare the proposed number of materials in
each assay;
— the number of assays that they could carry out;
— that they are willing to report their raw data using the reporting
form supplied; and
— whether the laboratory operates under an accredited or other
quality management system.
The presence of a quality system does not guarantee the quality of the data
submitted; the assessment of the collaborative study data is the key to data
reliability.
Prior to participation in a collaborative study, participants may be requested
to undertake proficiency studies or tests with control samples.
Participants should also agree:
— to complete their studies within the period of time specified;
— to accept responsibility for safe handling and disposal of the mate-
rials provided;
— to use the materials provided for the purpose of the collaborative
study only and not for independent research;
Participants may be requested to sign a material transfer agreement,
agreed between the donor of a sample for use in the collaborative study
and WHO, as a condition of participation.
— not to publish information on a proposed international reference
standard without the prior agreement of WHO, as premature
publication before establishment of the material could cause sci-
entific confusion.
Participants should agree to a provisional plan for publication of the
collaborative study, including proposed authorships, conditions, and
provisions for anonymity, under which raw data from the study may be
released for further analysis.
Participants will be asked to comment on the draft report of the
collaborative study before its submission to WHO. The participants
are listed, but the results from each participant are coded so as to
retain anonymity.

A.6.4 Materials to be included in the collaborative study

Materials included in a collaborative study may include, in addition
to the candidate standard(s), other standards in current use, coded E

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 duplicate samples, typical samples for which the standard will be used
(to assess commutability), samples that are known to be out of speci-
fication (e.g. samples that have failed a quality control test for a key
parameter such as potency), or one or more dilutions of a sample
included in the study.
Additional materials included in collaborative studies must be such
that all the samples of a given preparation are within specified limits
and stable during the time required for the study to be completed. To
avoid introduction of bias, samples should be coded and labelled so
that participants cannot identify materials and their sources or dupli-
cate samples. Where appropriate, materials should be screened for
freedom from infectious agents.
The materials should be distributed to the participants in accor-
dance with current postal or air freight regulations (22). They
should be securely packaged and appropriately labelled. If any
materials are frozen, they should be packaged in insulated containers
with sufficient coolant to last until they are delivered. They should
be accompanied by directions for storage, handling and safe use
and disposal. Participants should be requested to report the
condition of the samples to the study organizer immediately upon
receipt.
Temperature monitoring devices may be included with the shipment, or on
the label of the standard.
If concerns about the condition of the samples are reported, the study
organizer should decide as quickly as possible whether there is a need to
ship replacement samples, and inform the participant of the decision
concerning the condition of the samples.

A.6.5 Reporting of results

Each participant should be provided with a form on which to provide
information on:
— the assay method(s) used, including details of the assay design and
layout. This may also include details of the animals (species,
strain, weight range, sex, pretreatment and method of randomiza-
tion), or of other test materials (for example, organisms, cells, test
kits or substrates);
— the nature of diluent solutions and the procedure for making
dilutions of test and standard materials. This information is impor-
tant for the calculation of results and the detection of causes of
variation, bias or inaccuracy; and
— assay results given as raw (i.e. unprocessed) data. All data ob-
tained should be reported, and an explanation must be given for
E proposed rejection of any data.

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 In addition, participants should provide their own statistical calcula-
tions for each assay as this helps to show whether they interpret their
results in the same way as the biometrician who analyses all the
results.
A.6.6 Analysis of results
Results from all participants are analysed by statistical methods de-
scribed and considered appropriate by the biometrician responsible
for the design of the study, who should be experienced in the statisti-
cal evaluation of the results of various types of assay. This analysis
requires access to suitable computing facilities and statistical soft-
ware. The results of each assay should be analysed separately and, as
appropriate, the validity tested and the relative potency and precision
calculated (for example, as means and 95% confidence intervals).
Any questions about the results should be discussed promptly with
the participant concerned.
The variability in results between assay methods, and between labora-
tories, should be described and assessed as part of the analysis. For
example, an analysis of variance may be used to assess the statistical
significance of differences between methods and laboratories. Other
possible causes of variation, such as differences between candidate
reference materials when more than one is included, should also be
assessed. An assessment should be made of factors that may be the
cause of significant heterogeneity of potency estimates, nonlinearity
and differences in slopes. There is no general rule for the detection of
outliers.
Sources and causes of apparent outliers may not be consistent within
assays, between assays, between laboratories or methods. Omission of any
data should be taken into account in subsequent analysis.
As part of the overall study analysis, for each candidate preparation,
the results of all the assays carried out by each participating labora-
tory, with each assay method, should be combined, where appropri-
ate, and the potencies and confidence limits calculated. There is no
generally applicable method for the combination of estimates.
The methods to use for combination of estimates depend upon factors such
as the intended use of the standard, information about assay systems, and
the nature of the estimates and their distribution.
The results of assays should also be displayed graphically, for example as
histograms, as this may help to detect unusual features that could be
overlooked in the study of numerical data alone.

A.6.7 Report on a collaborative study

A copy of the draft report is sent to each participant together with the
code used to identify them. The participants should confirm that: E

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 — their data have been correctly interpreted in the analysis;
— the proposed material is suitable to serve as a reference standard
for the purpose defined; and
— the proposed unitage is appropriate.
The final report, after it has been amended where necessary and
including a statement that the participants have agreed with it, is
submitted to WHO. The information to be provided is outlined in
section A.7 of these Recommendations.
Any disagreement should be noted, together with any relevant critical
comments, for further consideration by the Expert Committee on Biological
Standardization.
The report of the collaborative study on a proposed international
reference standard is the copyright property of WHO.
The report published by WHO is assigned a document number and is
intended for presentation to the Expert Committee on Biological
Standardization as a working document. The study authors are strongly
encouraged to submit a revised version of the report for publication in a
peer-reviewed scientific journal. A manuscript submitted for publication
should report the decision of the Expert Committee on Biological
Standardization, and it is likely that the data and methods will need to be
presented in a more concise manner than in the working document.
When the reference standard has been established, the report is used
as the basis of the instruction leaflet for users that accompanies every
dispatch of the material (a model is given in Appendix 2).
Data used to support the establishment of an international biological
reference standard are made available to a user of the material either
through reference to a scientific publication on the material or
through the report provided to the Expert Committee on Biological
Standardization to support the request to establish the material, or
both.
The working document (presented to the Expert Committee) describing the
report of the study may be made available on the WHO web site
(www.who.int/biologicals).

A.7 Detailed information to be provided to WHO

The following information should be provided in the report to WHO,
in support of the submission of a request for adoption of a candidate
preparation as an international biological measurement standard by
the WHO Expert Committee on Biological Standardization. The in-
formation to be provided to support a proposal to establish an interim
reference reagent is given in section A.7.6.

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 A.7.1 Introduction
The introduction should explain the background and need for an
international reference standard. It should include:
— the name of the substance for which an international reference
standard is proposed;
— a definition of the substance being measured (the “measurand”);
— the rationale for the choice of units (IU or SI) being proposed;
— if the candidate reference standard is a replacement standard, the
rationale for the approach taken to ensure continuity of the IU;
— the way in which the study has been designed to evaluate the
fitness of purpose for the intended use of the reference standard,
including, where appropriate, an assessment of commutability;
— whether the material is needed to standardize products for the
prevention, treatment or diagnosis of disease;
— whether the material is subject to requirements for the manufac-
ture and control of biological substances, is the subject of a mono-
graph in a pharmacopoeia and is traded internationally;
— any recommendation by WHO or a recognized scientific organiza-
tion that the material should be prepared;
— a review of methods currently used for the assay of similar mate-
rials, and the rationale for the choice of methods included in the
study;
— the aims of the collaborative study and details of the participants;
— if a pilot study has been performed, appropriate details on the
material used and the results; and
— if the reference standard is intended for use in the in vitro diagnos-
tics field, the relationship of the approach used to the principles set
out in ISO 17511 (8) where applicable.
A.7.2 Bulk material and processing
The following information should be provided on the bulk material
and processing:
— description of the bulk material including its source, nature (in-
cluding information about the donor(s) if relevant) and, where
appropriate, its composition. This information may be supple-
mented by appropriate references from the literature, patent in-
formation or package inserts;
— details and results of safety and other chemical, physical and bio-
logical tests that have been performed;
— whether batches of bulk material were combined and, if so, the
procedure used;
— the composition of the material filled, including buffers diluents,
bulking agents or stabilizers; E

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 — the identifying code of the candidate reference standard.
— the address of the facility where the bulk material was processed
into final containers. If subcontractors have been used for any
stage of the processing, the identity of the subcontractor(s) should
be provided together with a list of the operations they carried out;
— full details of the processing operations (filling, lyophilization and
sealing) and the dates on which they were performed;
— the number of containers used to estimate the precision of fill, the
intervals at which weights were determined, and the results ex-
pressed as the coefficient of variation;
— evidence of validation of ampoule integrity after the sealing
process;
— details of the gas under which the material was sealed, its purity,
the method used to determine the residual oxygen content in the
containers and the results obtained;
— the method used to determine the residual moisture content in the
containers and the results obtained (as a percentage of the dry
weight);
— details and results of other tests performed on the contents of the
final containers;
— the number of final filled containers in the batch offered to WHO;
— the address of the intended place of storage and the name of the
present custodian; and
— the storage conditions including temperature.

A.7.3 Stability studies on the product in the final container

The information on stability studies on the product in the final con-
tainer should include:
— the name of the laboratory(ies) that obtained the stability data
and details of the assay method(s) used to obtain them;
— the details of the stability study, including the number of assays
carried out and the details of the samples assayed, including tem-
peratures and duration of storage, and the results of assay of the
activity remaining in each container after exposure to various
temperatures, together with the 95% confidence intervals;
The methods used for estimation of the 95% confidence intervals for the
predicted percentage loss of activity per year (33) should be described.
— an assessment of the stability of the material;
This may be based on the accelerated degradation studies, in the form of
the predicted percentage loss of activity per year together with the 95%
confidence intervals at the proposed storage temperature and any other
appropriate temperature (e.g. +20 °C and/or +37 °C) which is similar to or
E higher than the conditions expected to be encountered during delivery of

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 the reference standards. In some cases other methods may be appropriate,
such as real-time stability studies where the Arrhenius equation does not
apply.
— an assessment of the stability of the reconstituted reference
standard.

A.7.4 The report of the collaborative study

The following information should be provided on the collaborative
study:
• The reason why a WHO biological standard is needed and
the history of decisions of the Expert Committee on Biological
Standardization or of WHO, if any, to support the need for the
material.
• Planning and design of the collaborative study and descriptions of
the nature of any other materials included in it.
• The assay methods used and which participants used them, de-
scribed in such a way as to maintain blinding so that participants
cannot be identified.
• For each assay method, the number of assays that each participant
was asked to perform and the number actually carried out.
• A description of the statistical analysis carried out, including the
way in which the linearity and parallelism of the dose–response
curves were established and any problems that arose.
• Results obtained from the statistical analysis which should include:
— the numbers of valid and invalid results;
— the grounds for exclusion of any results (e.g. nonparallelism or
nonlinearity);
— a comparison of assay results from materials tested by different
assay methods, together with their interpretation and comments
on particular factors, such as the frequency distribution of the
estimates, differences in potency estimates and any observed
factors which may account for these, and any differences
observed between assay methods;
— for each laboratory using a given assay method, the within-assay
variation and the overall between-assay variation should be
stated where possible; and
— the overall estimates of relative potencies obtained by each
assay method, calculated both with and without outlying results;
The (raw) data should be available on request to WHO (Secretary, Expert
Committee on Biological Standardization) for a period of at least 20 years,
or longer if the standard is still in use.
• The final figure for the overall estimate of the potency of the
proposed reference standard, comments on the validity of the over- E

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 all estimate, and if appropriate, the 95% confidence intervals and
the method of deriving them.
• In studies on proposed first international reference standards, an
assessment of the degree to which the calculation of potencies
relative to the proposed reference standard reduced differences
between laboratories and between methods.

A.7.5 Other information

The report should also include:
• A recommendation for establishment of the material to serve as
a reference standard together with any limitations on its use
(e.g. suitability only for certain assay methods), together with a
recommended potency in international or other relevant units.
The basis of assignment of units to the first International Standard for a
material is the results of the collaborative study. Because the value
assigned to the preparation is arbitrary in the case of IUs, it may be
convenient to propose the value as a rounded number instead of a number
derived by statistical analysis of the results. For replacement standards, the
value proposed should ensure the continuity of the IU.
• A formal statement of the traceability path of the IU established by
the proposed standard.
• A consideration of the relationship of the unit established by the
proposed standard with previous units for the same material, in-
cluding evaluation of the extent to which continuity of the IU has
been maintained.
• A formal consideration of uncertainty, including a statement of the
uncertainty of content derived from the variance of the fill, and an
evaluation of the requirements of uncertainty statements in the
context of the traceability path.
• An evaluation of the extent to which commutability has been dem-
onstrated in the collaborative study.
• A list of the names and addresses of the participants. The coding
used to refer to participants in the body of the report should not
correspond to the order in which they are listed.
• Tables and histograms of the results of the collaborative study.
• A summary of the participants’ comments on the report.
• Acknowledgements, summary and references.
• A copy of the proposed instruction leaflet and safety data sheet
for users. It is recommended that a consistent format is used to
ensure that no relevant information is omitted. A guide is given in
Appendix 2.
• If requested, the detailed manufacturing records including results
E of in-process controls.

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 • If requested, detailed results of tests performed on the bulk and/or
filled material.

A.7.6 Report on a collaborative study on a proposed reference reagent

The report on a collaborative study on a proposed reference reagent,
which may be submitted for publication in a scientific journal, should
include the following information:
— title;
— authors;
— summary (which includes the reason why the material is required;
the number of laboratories and countries represented in the col-
laborative study; the aim of the study; the results; any comments;
the stability of the proposed material; a proposal for adoption
by the Expert Committee on Biological Standardization that states
the code number of the preparation, and the proposed potency);
— introduction;
— the number of laboratories and countries represented in the col-
laborative study;
— materials (which, for the proposed reference reagent, should in-
clude the information specified in section A.7.2 );
— stability of proposed interim reference reagent;
— assay methods;
— results (including the statistical analysis);
— discussion/conclusions;
— proposal (for adoption by the Expert Committee on Biological
Standardization that states the code number of the preparation
and the proposed potency);
— references (if any);
— participants (who, unless it has been agreed to the contrary, are
referred to in the body of the report only by anonymous code
numbers, which do not correspond to the order in which they are
listed);
— tables and figures; and
— acknowledgements.

A.8 Establishment of an international biological reference

standard
A preparation may be established as an international biological refer-
ence standard by the WHO when:
— the report on the collaborative study has been prepared, all par-
ticipants have had the opportunity to comment on the report, and
the report together with all comments have been presented to the
Expert Committee on Biological Standardization; E

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 — any queries raised by Working Groups or other groups requested
by WHO to undertake a peer review of the proposals have been
answered satisfactorily;
— all queries raised by members of the WHO Expert Advisory Panel
on Biological Standardization after they have examined the infor-
mation provided under Section A.7 have been answered satisfac-
torily; and
— the Expert Committee on Biological Standardization has come to
an agreement based on the evidence provided and the expert
recommendations for the material.
The decision of the Expert Committee is endorsed by the Director-
General of WHO. A list of international biological reference stan-
dards is published from time to time in the WHO Technical Report
Series and the current version is available on the WHO web site
(www.who.int/biologicals). Reference standards that have been es-
tablished or discontinued are included in an Annex to reports of
meetings of the WHO Expert Committee on Biological Standardiza-
tion. Catalogues are also available from custodian laboratories in
printed and electronic form.

A.9 Storage and distribu tion of international biological

reference standards
Custodian laboratories store and distribute international biological
reference standards on behalf of WHO. The identity of the custodian
laboratory for a particular reference standard is given in the
above-mentioned list of reference standards. A key responsibility
of the custodian laboratories is to maintain the integrity of the
stored materials. The laboratories have comprehensive contingency
plans to ensure that this integrity is maintained (34). Custodian labo-
ratories are also encouraged to identify and maintain locations for off-
site storage of sufficient numbers of each WHO International
Standard to allow establishment of a replacement in the event of a
catastrophe leading to the loss of or damage to the entire storage
facility.
These include monitoring of sample storage conditions and alarm systems
with protocols and procedures in place to respond to alerts that are
designed to maintain low-temperature storage of the preparations. Systems
are also in place to avert accidental or intentional tampering with freezer or
alarm settings. The laboratories have back-up emergency generators and
provide relevant training for the personnel responsible for maintaining low-
temperature storage of the reference standards.
Custodianship of international biological reference standards requires
considerable commitment and investment on behalf of the host
E institution.

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 Custodian laboratories ensure that appropriate precautions are taken
to ensure that shipments of biological reference preparations comply,
where appropriate, with international regulations on transport of in-
fectious substances (22).

Part B. General considerations for the preparation,

characterization and calibration of regional or
national biological reference standards
B.1 Introduction
As supplies of an International Standard may be limited, regional and
national authorities may consider preparing and establishing their
own secondary reference standards, calibrated against and traceable
to, the primary WHO materials, for wider use. Similarly, a manufac-
turer undertaking the assay of many batches of a biological product
should usually establish a laboratory reference standard for routine
use in these assays. The activities of such secondary preparations
should be calibrated in IU by direct comparison with the international
reference standard or, if necessary, by comparison with a regional or
national reference standard. The amount of effort involved in setting
up validated secondary reference standards should not be undere-
stimated. For this reason, countries in a given region are advised to
collaborate in the preparation of regional reference standards.
The reference standards resulting from such collaboration are likely
to have a wider application and duplication of effort is avoided or
minimized.
International biological reference standards are distributed free of
charge to national control laboratories and intergovernmental organi-
zations for their intended purpose.
International biological reference standards are usually not intended for use
as working standards to be used every time a particular assay is performed.

If an international reference standard is not available from WHO, a

regional or national authority may need to establish a reference stan-
dard and, if appropriate, define a unit of activity.
An example is the European Pharmacopoeia unit of activity for some
biological reference standards.

In preparing and establishing secondary reference standards, the

principles and considerations set out in Part A apply, but some
details may be modified. Particular points for consideration are set out
below. E

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 B.2 Assessment of need and procurement of material
The purposes for which a secondary reference standard may be
needed are the same as for an international preparation, but the
amount of the international reference standard available may be
insufficient for frequent use, for example in routine testing of
batches.
The purpose for which a material is required should be explained to
the candidate supplier, usually a manufacturer. The composition of a
secondary reference standard should resemble that of the materials to
be assayed against it.
Where possible, resemblance to the International Standard is desirable.
Frequently, materials will be supplied as final containers, often
closed with rubber or elastomer stoppers. In this case, it is very
important that the contents of the individual containers are homoge-
neous. Sometimes the regional or national laboratory will have to
distribute a bulk material into final containers and will require the
appropriate facilities to do so or should delegate this task to an
appropriate body.

B.3 Distribution into and processing of final containers

Because regional, national and laboratory reference standards are
likely to be used regularly and the batches may be replaced more
frequently than those of international reference standards, it is ac-
ceptable to store them in stoppered vials rather than in sealed glass
ampoules. The specifications for precision of fill, residual oxygen and
moisture content should be sufficient to assure the suitability of the
reference standard for its intended purpose. It is essential that the
stability of the filled material is established and that it is sufficient for
the time projected for the shelf-life of the batch. It is advisable to
monitor stability through an appropriate programme and to re-check
stability from time to time against the relevant international reference
standard.
Results of tests with the International Standard in the context of a stability-
monitoring programme are of interest to WHO, and laboratories are
encouraged to report the results to the Secretary, Expert Committee on
Biological Standardization.
The requirements for labelling should be adapted to suit the context
in which the material has been prepared and will be used.

B.4 Calibration
The calibration of a secondary reference material is a complex pro-
E cess and more extensive guidance than can be provided here is re-

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 quired. Considerations that need to be taken into account include, but
are not necessarily restricted to:
䊊 the higher order reference standards to which the regional or
national standards are traceable, usually the WHO International
Standard;
䊊 compliance with regulatory requirements; calibration of secondary
standards for therapeutic products should comply with local regu-
latory requirements whereas calibration of secondary standards
for diagnostic use should follow the principles set out in ISO 17511
(8);
䊊 whether an uncertainty value should be assigned; compliance with
the requirements for metrological traceability will, in many cases,
involve the use of restricted or single specified methods of analysis,
and statements of uncertainty of the assigned unitage in terms of
the International Standard, but there are exemptions as described
by ISO 34;
䊊 although the range of assay methods may be restricted, calibration
will often involve a very large data set to minimize the uncertainty;
䊊 how stability should be evaluated; stability testing is usually
carried out using a programme for monitoring against the Interna-
tional Standard (rather than the predictive model used for estab-
lishment of the International Standard); and
䊊 the need to verify the calibration obtained.
The number and geographical origin of the participants are likely to
be more limited than for a global collaborative study to establish an
International Standard. In some instances it may be sufficient to
include as few as two participants, the body intending to establish the
material and the supplier of the material. Great care should be taken
to calibrate secondary reference standards as accurately as possible to
avoid systematic bias in the estimation of potency. This may require a
larger number of replicate assays.
Reports on collaborative studies to evaluate secondary reference
standards should comply with the requirements of the organizing
body. Final reports should be submitted to and retained by the orga-
nizing body. Instructions for use and safety information should be
supplied to users with the reference standards.

Acknowledgements
The first draft of these revised recommendations was prepared by Dr D. Calam
and reviewed at a consultation held from 26–27 June 2003 at the World Health
Organization, Geneva. The consultation was attended by the following people: E

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 Professor W.G. Van Aken, Amstelveen, the Netherlands; Dr T. Barrowcliffe,
National Institute for Biological Standards and Control, Potters Bar, Herts.,
England; Dr A. Bristow, National Institute for Biological Standards and Control,
Potters Bar, Herts., England; Dr D. Calam, Pewsey, Wiltshire, England; Dr W. Egan,
Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, Food and Drug Administraton,
Rockville, MD, USA; Dr R. Gaines Das, National Institute for Biological Standards
and Control, Potters Bar, Herts., England; Dr I. Hewlett, Center for Biologics
Evaluation and Research, Food and Drug Administration; Rockville, MD, USA; Dr
N. Lelie, Sanquin-CLB, Alkmaar, the Netherlands; Dr P. Minor, National Institute for
Biological Standards and Control, Potters Bar, Herts., England; Dr M. Nübling, Paul
Ehrlich Institute, Langen, Germany; Dr P. Phillips, National Institute for Biological
Standards and Control, Potters Bar, Herts., England; Dr K. Zoon, Center for Cancer
Research, National Cancer Institute/National Institutes of Health; Bethesda, MD,
USA; Dr R. Büchel, Plasma Protein Therapeutics Association, Brussels, Belgium;
Dr M. Duchêne, GlaxoSmithKline Biologicals, Rixensart, Belgium; Dr A. Eshkol,
Serono International SA, Plan-les-Ouates, Switzerland; Dr D. Hendricks, Bayer
Diagnostics, California, USA; Dr H. Parkes, Laboratory of Government Chemist,
Middlesex, England; Professor I. Peake, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, England;
Dr B.H. Phelps, Chiron Cooperation, Emeryville, USA; Professor I. Raw, Instituto
Butantan, São Paulo, Brazil; Dr A. Sabouraud, Aventis Pasteur S.A., Marcy l’Etoile,
France; Dr G.A. Scassellati, European Diagnostic Manufacturers, Brussels,
Belgium; Mr J-M. Spieser, European Pharmacopoeia Commission, Strasbourg,
France; Professor J. Thijssen, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, the
Netherlands; Dr R. Wielgosz, International Bureau of Weight and Measures,
Sèvres, France.
The draft WHO/BS/04.1995 was prepared by Dr D.J. Wood taking into account the
comments from the above Consultation and a WHO Consultation on Global
Measurement Standards and their use in the in vitro biological diagnostics field,
held in Geneva from 7–8 June 2004, and comments from Dr A. Bristow and Dr R.E.
Gaines Das, National Institute for Biological Standards and Control, Potters Bar,
Herts., England and Dr A. Padilla, Dr G. Unger and Dr J. Shin, World Health
Organization, Geneva, Switzerland.
The next draft of WHO/BS/04.1995 (27 October 2004) was prepared by Dr D.J.
Wood, World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland and Dr A. Bristow and Mr
A. Heath, National Institute for Biological Standards and Control, Potters Bar,
Herts., England, taking into account the comments from a WHO Informal
Consultation held in Geneva from 30 September–1 October 2004 attended by the
following people:
Dr W.G. van Aken, Amstelveen, the Netherlands; Dr Y. Arakawa, National Institute
of Infectious Diseases, Tokyo, Japan; Dr T. Barrowcliffe, National Institute for
Biological Standards and Control, Potters Bar, Herts., England; Dr T. Bektimirov,
Tarasevich State Institute for the Standardization and Control of Medical Biological
Preparations, Moscow, Russian Federation; Dr A. Bristow, National Institute for
Biological Standards and Control, Potters Bar, Herts., England; Dr E. Chaves Leal,
INCQS/FIOCRUZ, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; Dr T. Ciesiolka, Roche Diagnostics
GmbH, Penzberg, Germany; Dr R. Decker, Hepatitis and AIDS Research,
Deerfield, Illinois, USA; Dr W. Egan, Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research,
Food and Drug Administration, Rockville, MD, USA; Dr S. Gairola, Serum Institute
of India Ltd., Pune, India; Professor S.E. Grossberg, Medical College of Wisconsin,
Milwaukee, WI, USA; Mr T. Hancox, International Organization for Standardization,
Geneva, Switzerland; Mr A. Heath, National Institute for Biological Standards and
Control, Potters Bar, Herts., England; Mrs T. Jivapaisarnpong, Ministry of Public
Health, Nonthaburi, Thailand; Dr N. Lelie, Sanquin-Diagnostic Services, Alkmaar,
the Netherlands; Dr J. Löwer, Paul-Ehrlich Institute, Langen, Germany; Ms R.M.
E Madej, Roche Molecular Systems, Pleasanton, CA, USA; Dr S. Marcovina, North

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 West Lipid Research Laboratories, University of Washington, USA; Dr P. Miede,
Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, Food and Drug Administration,
Rockville, MD, USA; Dr H. Min, Korea Food and Drug Administraton, Seoul,
Republic of Korea; Dr P. Phillips, National Institute for Biological Standards and
Control, Potters Bar, Herts., England; Dr G. Schild, Imperial College School of
Medicine, London, England; Dr J. Sokhey, Regional Office for South-East Asia,
New Delhi, India; Mr J-M. Spieser, European Pharmacopoeia Commission,
Strasbourg, France; Dr R. Wielgosz, International Bureau of Weights and
Measures, Sèvres, France; Dr Tiequn Zhou, National Institute for the Control of
Pharmaceutical and Biological Products, Beijing, People’s Republic of China; Dr K.
Zoon, National Institute of Health, Rockville, MD, USA.

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samples — metrological traceability of values assigned to calibrators and
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 11. WHO Consultation on the Preparation, Characterization and Establishment
of WHO International Standards and Other Biological Reference Materials,
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Geneva, World Health Organization, 1998 (WHO Technical Report Series,
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Geneva, World Health Organization, 1999 (WHO Technical Report Series,
No. 889), pp.21–22.
16. WHO Expert Committee on Biological Standardization. Fifty-fourth report.
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Geneva, World Health Organization, 2004 (WHO Technical Report Series,
No. 926), pp.19–20.
18. WHO Expert Committee on Biological Standardization. Fifty-second report.
Geneva, World Health Organization, 2004 (WHO Technical Report Series,
No. 924), pp.31–32.
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of biological origin — description of reference materials. ISO 15194, 2002.
20. WHO Expert Committee on Biological Standardization. Forty-third report.
Geneva, World Health Organization, 1994 Annex 2 (WHO Technical Report
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26. Campbell PJ. International biological standards and reference preparations
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 27. Kirkwood TBL. Predicting the stability of biological standards and products.
Biometrics, 1977, 33:736–742.
28. Kirkwood TBL, Tydeman MS. Design and analysis of accelerated
degradation tests for the stability of biological standards. II. A flexible
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1984, 12:207–214.
29. Kirkwood TBL. Design and analysis of accelerated degradation tests for the
stability of biological standards. III. Principles of design. Journal of
Biological Standardization, 1984, 12:215–224.
30. Sands D et al. International collaborative study to replace the current
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31. Rafferty B, Gaines-Das RE. International collaborative study of the
proposed third International Standard for thyroid-stimulating
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32. Kirkwood TBL. Statistical aspects of the planning and analysis of
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 Appendix 1
Considerations for assignment of priorities to
development of WHO International Biological
Measurement Standards or Reference Reagents
Based on WHO Technical Report Series, No. 904, Annex 3.

Type of Decision point Guidance Comments

standard
International Is the proposed A replacement A higher priority for
Standard material a standard generally a new standard can
replacement or a new has a higher priority be justified where
standard? than a new standard. the material is
expected to have
a high impact,
based on the
considerations
below.
Is the proposed A candidate standard A higher priority for
material to be used to for an approved a standard for an
standardize an medicine or investigational
approved medicine, established method product or method
or an established in generally has the can be justified
vitro diagnostic higher priority. where the product or
method, rather than method is in late-
an investigational stage development.
medicine or
investigational
method?
Is the proposed A candidate standard
material a potential for more than one
standard for more product or method
than one product or will generally have a
method? higher priority than a
product-specific or
method-specific
standard.
Is the proposed A candidate standard
material to be used to for a product or
standardize a product method of major
or in vitro diagnostic public health
method of public importance will
health importance? generally have higher
priority than
standards for other
E medical indications.

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 Type of Decision point Guidance Comments
standard
Is the proposed A candidate standard A higher priority for
material to be used to for a product or a regional standard
standardize a product method of global can be justified if the
or method of global importance will material is expected
importance? generally have to have a high public
higher priority than health impact.
standards of regional
importance.
Reference Is the proposed A candidate
reagent material to be used to reference reagent
standardize a product for which an
or method for which international need
the clinical utility is exists from both
not yet apparent, or regulatory and
methods are not yet scientific
agreed? considerations will
have a higher priority
than a reagent for
which no such need
exists.

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 Appendix 2
Information to be included in instruction leaflets
and safety data sheets for users of international or
other biological reference standards

It is strongly advised that these leaflets and data sheets are prepared
in a standard format.
Publication of instruction leaflets on the WHO web site and also on the
web site of the custodian laboratory is encouraged.
The package insert or instructions for use accompanying an inter-
national biological reference standard should include the following
information:
• The name and address of the custodian laboratory and of the
distributor if different.
• The name of the reference standard and its identifying code.
• The status of the material (International Standard or interim
Reference Reagent) and the year of establishment.
• The defined potency or other parameter, together with a reference
to the relevant WHO Expert Committee and collaborative study
reports.
• Citation of the report submitted to the Expert Committee on
Biological Standardization that supported the establishment of
the standard and citation of any publications in the scientific
literature describing the characterization of the reference
standard:
The report submitted to the Expert Committee on Biological Standardization
that supported the establishment of the standard may also be distributed
together with the instruction leaflet and safety data sheet.
• Details of preparation of the material relevant to its use that, where
appropriate, may be conveyed to the user with the agreement of the
provider of the source material, such as
— details of the nature and formulation of the filled material;
— mean fill volume or mass with number of containers tested and
coefficient of variation; and
— residual moisture and oxygen with number of containers tested.
• Recommended storage temperature and time. Because the dis-
tributor has no control over the conditions under which the refer-
ence standard is held after receipt, an instruction to use the material
as soon as possible after receipt is advisable.
• Where appropriate, the method of reconstitution with the period of
E use and storage conditions after reconstitution.

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 • The intended use of the material:
For standards intended for use with in vitro diagnostic devices, detailed
information may be provided, where available, to assist users to document
traceability to the reference standard. This may be in the form of a protocol
that evaluates the lack of matrix effect in newly developed methods;
evaluates the linearity of the reference standards in the system under
evaluation; specifies the procedure for transfer of the assigned value of the
reference standard to the user’s calibrators; and provides information to
validate the accuracy and the precision of the system under evaluation.
• Directions for safe use and disposal of the reference standard be-
fore and after reconstitution.
• A statement that the material is not for administration to humans.
• Any disclaimers over liability concerning use of the material.
Most of this information is required in the instructions for use of
secondary reference standards.

Safety data sheet

The following information should be given in a safety data sheet:
• The name and address of the custodian laboratory and the distribu-
tor if different.
• The name of the reference standard and its identifying code.
• The status of the material (International Standard or Reference
Reagent) and year of establishment.
• The physical nature of the material and, if freeze-dried, a statement
that it is hygroscopic.
• Any hazards on exposure to the contents of the container.
• For material that is potentially infectious, a statement to this effect
together with details and results of the testing for infectious agents
that has been performed.
• For pathogenic material, a statement to this effect.
• Instructions for safe handling and disposal, including action to be
taken with spillages.
• Instructions on action to be taken if someone is exposed to the
material by direct contact including skin contact, ingestion and
accidental injection.
The same information is required for a secondary reference standard.

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 © World Health Organization
WHO Technical Report Series, No. 932, 2006

Annex 3
Recommendations, guidelines and other documents
for biological substances used in medicine

The recommendations (previously called requirements) and guide-

lines published by the World Health Organization are scientific
and advisory in nature but may be adopted by a national regulatory
authority as national requirements or used as the basis of such
requirements.
These international recommendations are intended to provide guid-
ance to those responsible for the production of biologicals as well as
to others who may have to decide upon appropriate methods of assay
and control to ensure that these products are safe, reliable and potent.
Recommendations concerned with biological substances used in
medicine are formulated by international groups of experts and are
published in the Technical Report Series of the World Health
Organizationa as listed here. A historical list of requirements and
other sets of recommendations is available on request from the World
Health Organization, 1211 Geneva 27, Switzerland.
Reports of the Expert Committee on Biological Standardization pub-
lished in the WHO Technical Report Series can be purchased from:
Marketing and Dissemination
World Health Organization
1211 Geneva 27
Switzerland
Telephone: +41 22 79 12 476
Fax: +41 22 79 14 857
email: [email protected]
Individual recommendations and guidelines may be obtained free of
charge as offprints by writing to:
Quality Assurance and Safety of Biologicals
Department of Immunization, Vaccines and Biologicals
World Health Organization
1211 Geneva 27
Switzerland
E a
Abbreviated in the following pages as TRS.

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 Recommendations, Guidelines and other documents
Recommendations, Guidelines and other Reference
documents
Acellular pertussis component of monovalent or Adopted 1996, TRS 878 (1998)
combined vaccines
Animal cells, use of, as in vitro substrates for the Revised 1996, TRS 878 (1998);
production of biologicals Addendum 2003, TRS 927 (2005)
Antitumour antibiotics, guidelines for quality TRS 658 (1981)
assessment
Biological standardization and control: a Unpublished document WHO/
scientific review commissioned by the UK BLG/97.1
National Biological Standards Board (1997)
Biological substances: international standards Revised 2004, TRS 932 (2005)
and reference reagents, guidelines for the
preparation, characterization and establishment
BCG vaccine, dried Revised 1985, TRS 745 (1987);
Amendment 1987, TRS 771
(1988)
Biological products prepared by recombinant Adopted 1990, TRS 814 (1991)
DNA technology
Blood, blood components and plasma Revised 1992, TRS 840 (1994)
derivatives: collection, processing and quality
control
Blood plasma products, human: viral inactivation Adopted 2001, TRS 924 (2004)
and removal procedures
Cholera vaccine (inactivated, oral) Adopted 2001, TRS 924 (2004)
Dengue virus vaccine (tetravalent, live) Adopted 2004, TRS 932 (2005)
Diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis and combined Revised 1989, TRS 800 (1990);
vaccines Addendum 2003, TRS 927 (2005)
DNA vaccines Adopted 1996, TRS 878 (1998)
Good manufacturing practices for biological Adopted 1991, TRS 822 (1992)
products
Haemophilus influenzae type b conjugate Revised 1998, TRS 897 (2000)
vaccines
Haemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS) Adopted 1993, TRS 848 (1994)
vaccine (inactivated)
Hepatitis A vaccine (inactivated) Adopted 1994, TRS 858 (1995)
Hepatitis B vaccine prepared from plasma Revised 1987, TRS 771 (1988)
Hepatitis B vaccines made by recombinant DNA Adopted 1988, TRS 786 (1989);
techniques Amendment 1997, TRS 889 (1999)
Hormones and other substances in community TRS 565 (1975)
health care, development of national assay
services E

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 Recommendations, Guidelines and other Reference
documents
Human hormones and their binding proteins, TRS 565 (1975)
recommendations for the assessment of
binding-assay systems (including immunoassay
and receptor assay systems). (A guide to the
formulation of requirements for reagents and
assay kits for the above assays and notes on
cytochemical bioassay systems.)
Human interferons made by recombinant DNA Adopted 1987, TRS 771 (1988)
techniques
Human interferons prepared from Adopted 1988, TRS 786 (1989)
lymphoblastoid cells
Influenza vaccine (inactivated) Revised 2003, TRS 927 (2005)
Influenza vaccine (live) Adopted 1978, TRS 638 (1979)
Japanese encephalitis vaccine (inactivated) Adopted 1987, TRS 771 (1988)
for human use
Japanese encephalitis vaccine (live) for Adopted 2000, TRS 910 (2002)
human use
Louse-borne human typhus vaccine (live) Adopted 1982, TRS 687 (1983)
Measles, mumps and rubella vaccines and Adopted 1992, TRS 848 (1994);
combined vaccine (live) Note TRS 848 (1994)
Meningococcal polysaccharide vaccine Adopted 1975, TRS 594 (1976);
Addendum 1980, TRS 658
(1981); Amendment 1999,
TRS 904 (2002)
Meningococcal C conjugate vaccines Adopted 2001, TRS 924 (2004);
Addendum 2003, TRS 926 (2004)
Monoclonal antibodies Adopted 1991, TRS 822 (1992)
Pneumococcal conjugate vaccines Adopted 2003, TRS 927 (2005)
Poliomyelitis vaccine (inactivated) Revised 2000, TRS 910 (2002);
Amendment 2003, TRS 926 (2004)
Poliomyelitis vaccine (inactivated): guidelines Adopted 2003, TRS 926 (2004)
for the safe production and quality control of
inactivated poliovirus manufactured from
wild polioviruses
Poliomyelitis vaccine, oral Revised 1999, TRS 904 (2002);
Addendum 2000, TRS 910 (2002)
Quality assurance for biological products, Adopted 1991, TRS 822 (1992)
guidelines for national authorities
Rabies vaccine (inactivated) for human use, Adopted 1986, TRS 760 (1987);
produced in continuous cell lines Amendment 1992, TRS 840 (1994)
E

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 Recommendations, Guidelines and other Reference
documents
Rabies vaccine for human use Revised 1980, TRS 658 (1981);
Amendment 1992, TRS 840 (1994)
Regulation and licensing of biological products Adopted 1994, TRS 858 (1995)
in countries with newly developing regulatory
authorities
Rift valley fever vaccine Adopted 1981, TRS 673 (1982)
Smallpox vaccine Revised 2003, TRS 926 (2004)
Sterility of biological substances Revised 1973, TRS 530 (1973);
Amendment 1995, TRS 872 (1998)
Synthetic peptide vaccines Adopted 1997, TRS 889 (1999)
Thiomersal for vaccines: regulatory expectations Adopted 2003, TRS 926 (2004)
for elimination, reduction or removal
Thromboplastins and plasma used to control oral Revised 1997, TRS 889 (1999)
anticoagulant therapy
Tick-borne encephalitis vaccine (inactivated) Adopted 1997, TRS 889 (1999)
Transmissible spongiform encephalopathies in Unpublished document WHO/
relation to biological and pharmaceutical BCT/QSD/2003.01
products, guidelines
Tuberculins Revised 1985, TRS 745 (1987)
Typhoid vaccine Adopted 1966, TRS 361 (1967)
Vaccines, clinical evaluation: regulatory Adopted 2001, TRS 924 (2004)
expectations
Vaccines, nonclinical evaluation Adopted 2003, TRS 926 (2004)
Varicella vaccine (live) Revised 1993, TRS 848 (1994)
Vi polysaccharide typhoid vaccine Adopted 1992, TRS 840 (1994)
Virus vaccines, summary protocol for the batch Adopted 1991, TRS 822 (1992)
release
Yellow fever vaccine Revised 1995, TRS 872 (1998)
Yellow fever vaccine, laboratories approved by Revised 1995, TRS 872 (1998)
WHO for the production of
Yellow fever virus, production and testing of TRS 745 (1987)
WHO primary seed lot 213-77 and reference
batch 168-73

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 © World Health Organization
WHO Technical Report Series, No. 932, 2006

Annex 4
Biological substances: International Standards and
Reference Reagents

A list of International Standards and Reference Reagents for biologi-

cal substances was issued in WHO Technical Report Series, No. 897,
2000 (Annex 4) and an updated version is available on the Internet at
http://www.who.int/biologicals. Copies of the list may be obtained
from appointed sales agents for WHO publications or from: Distri-
bution and Sales, World Health Organization, 1211 Geneva 27,
Switzerland.
These substances are held and distributed by the International
Laboratory for Biological Standards, National Institute for Biological
Standards and Control, Potters Bar, Herts., EN6 3QG, England.
At its meeting in November 2004, the Expert Committee made the
following changes to the previous list.

Preparations Activity Status

Additions
Antigens and related
substances
Poliomyelitis vaccine, oral 7.51 log10 TCID50/ml Second International
poliovirus type 1 Standard, 2004
6.51 log10 TCID50/ml
poliovirus type 2
6.87 log10 TCID50/ml
poliovirus type 3
7.66 log10 TCID50/ml total
poliovirus content
Pertussis serotype 2, No assigned value First Reference Reagent,
typing serum 2004
Pertussis serotype 3, No assigned value First Reference Reagent,
typing serum 2004
Blood products and
related substances
Anti-D blood typing No assigned value First International
serum, for minimum Standard, 2004
potency of blood
grouping reagents
Factor V Leiden, human No assigned value First International Genetic
E Reference Panel, 2004

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 Preparations Activity Status
Additions
Factor XIII, plasma, 0.91 IU/ampoule First International
human Standard, 2004
Immunoglobulin, No assigned value First Reference Reagent,
intravenous: anti-D 2004
positive control
Immunoglobulin, No assigned value First Reference Reagent,
intravenous, anti-D 2004
negative control
Disestablishment
Antigens and related
substances
Hepatitis b vaccine, No assigned value First International
plasma derived Reference Reagent

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