Patent ID: 7468259

Claim:
A method for manufacturing a recombinant influenza neuraminidase comprising the steps of: a. providing an expression vector comprising an expression module consisting of a sequence that encodes a cleavable signal sequence derived from the native 5′ cleavable signal sequence of the influenza hemagglutinin signal peptide and coupled thereto in phase at least part of the coding sequence of an influenza virus neuraminidase gene having the antigenic properties of naturally occurring neuraminidase, minus the region coding for at least the membrane anchor region of the neuraminidase so that the membrane anchor function is not retained, said expression module under the regulation of suitable promoter and terminator sequences for transcription; b. transforming a host cell with the thus obtained expression vector; c. culturing the transformed host cell in a culture medium under conditions enabling the expression of the recombinant neuraminidase; and d. isolating the recombinant neuraminidase from the culture medium.