MF59
Encyclopedia
MF59 is an immunologic adjuvant
Immunologic adjuvant
In immunology, an adjuvant is an agent that may stimulate the immune system and increase the response to a vaccine, without having any specific antigenic effect in itself. The word “adjuvant” comes from the Latin word adiuvare, meaning to help or aid...

 that uses squalene
Squalene
Squalene is a natural organic compound originally obtained for commercial purposes primarily from shark liver oil, though plant sources are used as well, including amaranth seed, rice bran, wheat germ, and olives. All plants and animals produce squalene, including humans...

. It is Novartis
Novartis
Novartis International AG is a multinational pharmaceutical company based in Basel, Switzerland, ranking number three in sales among the world-wide industry...

' proprietary adjuvant that is added to influenza vaccines to help stimulate the human body's immune response through production of CD4
CD4
CD4 is a glycoprotein expressed on the surface of T helper cells, monocytes, macrophages, and dendritic cells. It was discovered in the late 1970s and was originally known as leu-3 and T4 before being named CD4 in 1984...

 memory cells. MF59 is the first oil-in-water influenza vaccine adjuvant to be commercialized in combination with a seasonal influenza virus vaccine. It was developed in the 1990s by researchers at Ciba-Geigy, a Novartis heritage company, and Chiron
Chiron Corporation
Chiron Corporation was a multinational biotechnology firm based in Emeryville, California that was acquired by Novartis International AG on April 20, 2006. It had offices and facilities in eighteen countries on five continents. Chiron's business and research was in three main areas:...

, acquired by Novartis in 2006.
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