U.S. facility to help fill HHS monkeypox vaccine order

U.S.-based Grand River Aseptic Manufacturing will fill and finish 2.5 million of the 5.5 million vials of JYNNEOS monkeypox vaccine ordered by the Department of Health and Human Services to make available to individuals at high risk for the virus. 

“We continue to do everything we can to make more vaccine doses available more quickly to those in need,” said HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra. “Establishing a second line in the U.S. will double the capacity available to fill and finish these vaccines, create high-quality American jobs, and strengthen our domestic supply chain security.”

Becerra this month declared the U.S. monkeypox outbreak a public health emergency, with current cases exceeding 14,000. HHS so far has distributed almost 1 million doses of the vaccine to states and jurisdictions, but estimates up to 1.7 million Americans are at elevated risk for the virus, including people eligible for medications to prevent HIV. To stretch available supply of the vaccine five-fold, the Food and Drug Administration last week issued an emergency use authorization allowing health care providers to administer the vaccine to adults intradermally.