Document on recombinant viral vectored vaccines to support COVID-19 vaccine developers

This document is published for information in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. It provides analytical strategy options for the control of recombinant viral vectored vaccines and is intended to support developers of candidate COVID-19 viral vector-based vaccines. It includes suggested tests that may be conducted at each stage in the manufacture of viral vectored vaccines and can be used by COVID-19 vaccine developers as an aid to building appropriate analytical strategies during the development of their candidate vaccines. Additional tests may be considered on a case-by-case basis, depending on the nature of the vector backbone and/or the specific manufacturing process established for the viral vectored vaccine. The principles described in this document may also be used for other recombinant viral vectored vaccines.