Sanofi Pasteur, the vaccines global business unit of Sanofi, recently entered into a contract with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to increase the company’s domestic pandemic influenza vaccine production capabilities based in Swiftwater, Pa.
The agreement is supported by $226 million in federal funds from the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), which is part of the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response at HHS.
“We are pleased to be taking this critical next step in our longstanding relationship with BARDA, which will enable us to significantly enhance flu vaccine supply under pandemic influenza scenarios,” David Loew, executive vice president of vaccines at Sanofi, said. “We are deeply committed to advancing influenza vaccine technology and manufacturing, and our public and private partnerships are an important part of these ongoing efforts to help protect people from influenza.”
The contract will support the clinical development and manufacturing of an adjuvanted recombinant pandemic vaccine to help improve U.S. and global pandemic preparedness.
“The question is not if, but when the next influenza pandemic will occur, carrying potentially devastating consequences for public health and the U.S. economy,” BARDA Director Rick Bright said. “As the recent presidential executive order on pandemic preparedness emphasized, technology to produce effective vaccines quickly and safely in the United States can improve access, protect more people sooner and, ultimately, strengthen national and global health security. Public-private partnerships, such as this one with Sanofi Pasteur, are essential in moving such technology forward.”