Thirty-ninth report / Thirty-ninth report

ABSTRACT

This report contains the deliberations and recommendations of an expert committee commissioned by the World Health Organization to coordinate activities leading to the establishment of international reference materials and the adoption of international requiremenst for the production and control of vaccines and other biologicals. The report starts with a discussion of general isues brought to the Committee's attention and provides information on the status and developemnt of international reference materials for various antibiotics, antibodies, antigens, blood producs, endocrinological substances, cytokines, allergens, and other biologicals. The second part of the report, of particular relevance to manufacturers and national control authorities, contains details of the WHO procedure for evaluating and acceptability of vaccines proposed to United Nations agencies for use in immunization programmes and three specific sets of requiremnts for hepatitis B vaccines made by recombinant DNA techniques, for human interferons prepared from lymphoblastoid cells, and the collection, processing, and quality control of blood, blood components, and plasma derivatives