[Title 21 CFR 620.4]
[Code of Federal Regulations (annual edition) - April 1, 1996 Edition]
[Title 21 - FOOD AND DRUGS]
[Chapter I - FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION,]
[Subchapter F - BIOLOGICS]
[Part 620 - ADDITIONAL STANDARDS FOR BACTERIAL PRODUCTS]
[Subpart A - Pertussis Vaccine]
[Sec. 620.4 - Potency test.]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]




  21
  FOOD AND DRUGS
  7
  1996-04-01
  1996-04-01
  false
  Potency test.
  620.4
  Sec. 620.4
  
    FOOD AND DRUGS
    FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION,
    BIOLOGICS
    ADDITIONAL STANDARDS FOR BACTERIAL PRODUCTS
    Pertussis Vaccine
  


Sec. 620.4   Potency test.

    The number of protective units of the total human immunizing dose 
shall be estimated for each lot of vaccine from the results of 
simultaneous intracerebral mouse protection tests of the vaccine under 
test and the U.S. Standard Pertussis Vaccine. The potency test shall be 
performed as follows:
    (a) Mice. Healthy mice shall be used, all from a single strain and 
of the same sex, or an equal number of each sex in each group, with 
individual weight varying no more than 4 grams in a single test. In no 
event shall any of the mice weigh less than 10 grams or more than 20 
grams. A system of randomization shall be used to distribute the mice 
into the groups, with respect to shelf position and to determine the 
order of challenge. There shall be at least 3 groups consisting of no 
less than 16 mice each, for each vaccine. In addition, there shall be at 
least 4 groups consisting of no less than 10 mice each, for control 
purposes: one group for the challenge dose and 3 groups for titrating 
the virulence of the challenge dose.
    (b) Vaccination. (1) Five-fold serial dilutions of the vaccine to be 
tested and of the standard vaccine shall be made in 0.85 percent sodium 
chloride solution. The dilutions of the vaccine under test shall have 
the same protective unitage, based on an estimate of 12 units per total 
human immunizing dose, as the unitage of the corresponding dilution of 
the standard vaccine. Each mouse in each group for vaccination shall be 
injected intraperitoneally with 0.5 ml. of the appropriate dilution.
    (2) The interval between vaccination and challenge shall be 14 to 17 
days. At least 87.5 percent of the mice in each group shall survive the 
period between vaccination and challenge and each mouse challenged shall 
appear healthy.
    (c) The challenge. (1) The challenge culture of Bordetella pertussis 
for each test shall be taken from a batch of cultures which have been 
maintained by a method, such as freeze-drying, that retains constancy of 
virulence.
    (2) The challenge and virulence titration doses shall be prepared as 
follows: The bacteria shall be harvested from a 20 to 24 hour culture 
grown on Bordet-Gengou medium seeded from a rapidly growing culture less 
than 48 hours old and uniformly suspended in a solution containing 1.0 
percent casein peptone and about 0.6 percent sodium chloride at pH 
7.1plus-minus0.1. The suspension, freed from agar particles and 
clumps of bacteria, and adjusted to an opacity of 10 units, shall be 
diluted in the solution used for suspending the bacteria, to provide in 
a volume of 0.03 ml. (i) a challenge dose of 0.0001 opacity units 
(1:3000) and (ii) virulence titration doses of \1/50\, \1/250\ and \1/
1250\ respectively of the challenge dose.
    (3) Each vaccinated mouse shall be injected intracerebrally with the 
challenge dose. The four groups of control mice shall be injected 
intracerebrally with the challenge dose and its three dilutions, 
respectively. The challenge-dose control mice shall be injected last. 
The interval between the removal of the bacteria from the culture medium 
and the injection of the last mouse shall not exceed 2\1/2\ hours.
    (d) Recording the results. The mice shall be observed for 14 days. 
Mice dying within 72 hours after challenge shall be excluded from the 
test. Records shall be maintained of the number of mice that die after 
72 hours and of the number of mice showing both paralysis and 
enlargement of the head at the end of 14 days. All mice that show both 
paralysis and enlargement of the head shall be considered as deaths for 
the purposes of determining the ED50.
    (e) Validity of the test. The test shall be valid provided (1) the 
ED50 of the vaccine under test and the standard vaccine is between 
the largest and smallest vaccinating doses; (2) the limits of one 
standard deviation of each ED50 fall within the range of 64 percent 
to 156 percent; (3) the protective response is graded in relation to the 
vaccinating doses; (4) the dose-response curves of the vaccine under 
test and the standard vaccine are parallel; (5) the challenge dose 
contains approximately 200 LD50; (6) the LD50 contains no more 
than 300 colony forming units; and (7) the \1/1250\ dilution of the 
challenge dose contains no less than 10 and no more than 50 colony 
forming units.
    (f) Estimate of the potency. The ED50 of each vaccine shall be 
calculated by a

[[Page 73]]

method that provides an estimate of the standard deviation. The 
protective unit value per total human immunizing dose of the vaccine 
under test shall be calculated in terms of the unit value of the 
standard vaccine.
    (g) Potency requirements. The vaccine shall have a potency of 12 
units per total human immunizing dose based upon either a single test 
estimate of no less than 8 units or a two-, three- or four-test 
geometric mean estimate of no less than 9.6, 10.8, or 12 units, 
respectively, except that for the vaccine in a multiple antigen product 
containing Poliovirus Vaccine Inactivated, the estimate shall be no less 
than 14 units. In no event shall the estimate be more than 36 units.
    (h) Test design variation. Variations in the design of the potency 
test may be permitted providing the results are demonstrated to be of 
equal or greater precision.

[38 FR 32064, Nov. 20, 1973, as amended at 50 FR 4137, Jan. 29, 1985]