Sanofi Pasteur wins FDA license for new flu vaccine facility

According to Sanofi Pasteur, this new facility, located in Swiftwater, Pennsylvania, will incorporate the latest technology in egg-based vaccine production as part of the company’s commitment to produce the largest number of doses of vaccine in the shortest time frame to address the threat of seasonal and pandemic influenza.

The licensure of this facility is for production of the company’s seasonal trivalent influenza vaccine, Fluzone (influenza virus vaccine), and augments the current Fluzone vaccine production capacity in the US, the company said.

Sanofi Pasteur invested $150 million in the construction of this new, 140,000sqft vaccine facility as part of its commitment to support public health and to protect individuals against both seasonal and pandemic influenza. The new facility is expected to produce 100 million doses when operating at full capacity.

In total, Sanofi Pasteur said that it will have a capacity of approximately 150 million doses of trivalent seasonal influenza vaccine per year in the US – 50 million doses from the existing facility and 100 million doses from the new facility when it is operating at full capacity. Production of Fluzone vaccine for the 2009-2010 season is already underway in the new facility.

Wayne Pisano, president and CEO of Sanofi Pasteur, said: “Sanofi Pasteur is assessing its capabilities to support public health efforts should the WHO and national health authorities request that influenza vaccine manufacturers start supplying vaccine to protect against the new influenza A (H1N1) virus.

“With the licensure of this new influenza vaccine production facility, Sanofi Pasteur now has additional flexibility to produce seasonal influenza vaccine and to respond to requests from public health authorities to develop an influenza A (H1N1) vaccine.”