A public-private partnership involving the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), and Novartis Vaccines and Diagnostics, Inc. dedicated the first U.S. facility to use cell-based approaches for making influenza vaccine. The new facility in Holly Springs, North Carolina will operate in partnership which “will be maintained under contract for at least 25 years.” Robin Robinson, Ph.D., director of the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) in HHS’s Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR), said, “Today we’re marking the first change in influenza vaccine manufacturing in the United States in 50 years. The pandemic readiness of this facility is a major milestone in national preparedness for pandemic influenza and other diseases.” In an influenza pandemic, the new Novartis facility “may be able to produce 25 percent of the vaccine needed in the United States. In addition, cell-based technology used in this facility for manufacturing seasonal and pandemic influenza vaccines may be adapted to produce vaccines for other known and unknown emerging infectious diseases in an emergency.”
In addition, HHS and Novartis “are partnering with Synthetic Genomics Vaccines of Rockville, Maryland on new technologies to shorten the vaccine manufacturing timeline by optimizing vaccine virus seed strains used for flu vaccine production.” BARDA and Novartis also are working with North Carolina State University “to train scientists from other countries to use cell culture based manufacturing techniques similar to what is used in the new facility. The training program is part of a WHO initiative to strengthen the ability of developing countries to produce flu vaccine, potentially reducing the global threat from influenza.”
vaccines and global health :: ethics and policy 