Washington, D.C ? Federal regulators published draft guidelines Thursday on ways to speed new flu vaccines to market for common winter influenza as well as an even deadlier strain of the virus, such as bird flu that has health officials worldwide worried about a pandemic.

The guidelines, prepared by the Food and Drug Administration, spell out data the agency is requiring of manufacturers to demonstrate that new flu vaccines are safe and effective. The public has 90 days to comment before they are finalized.

Eventually, the guidelines could knock one to two years off the time it takes to develop and license a new flu vaccine, said Dr. Jesse Goodman, director of the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research.