HHS invests in domestic capacity to produce pandemic flu vaccine

The Department of Health and Human Services today announced a $226 million contract to expand the nation’s capacity to quickly produce vaccine for a flu pandemic. HHS expects the six-year agreement with Sanofi Pasteur to increase the company’s capacity to use recombinant vaccine technology, which is faster than traditional egg-based technology, to produce a pandemic vaccine in the United States to nearly 100 million doses. Sanofi is the only company with a seasonal recombinant flu vaccine licensed in the U.S. “Keeping vaccine manufacturing in the United States is essential to protect Americans from pandemic influenza and to save lives,” said BARDA Director Rick Bright. “Better, faster vaccine technologies, produced in the U.S. will improve access, protect more people and, ultimately, strengthen our nation’s health security.” In September, President Trump created an interagency task force to develop and implement a five-year plan to improve flu vaccines and produce them faster.