Novartis to build advanced flu vaccines plant in US

CHICAGO (Reuters) – Novartis AG on Tuesday said it will
invest $600 million to build the first plant in the United
States to develop flu vaccines using advanced, cell-culture
techniques.

The Swiss drugmaker’s investment comes as companies rush to
develop faster techniques for making flu vaccine as the specter
of pandemic avian flu looms.

The new cell-culture techniques would replace the
time-consuming, 50-year-old vaccine technology that requires
live chicken eggs and six months brewing time.

The Novartis plant would be based in Holly Springs, North
Carolina. Construction is expected to begin in 2007.

Novartis’ $600 million investment includes a recent $220
million award from the U.S. Department of Health and Human
Services. HHS in May distributed a total of $1 billion in
grants to vaccine makers working on producing vaccines more
quickly using cell cultures.

Once completed and approved for commercial production,
Novartis said the planned Holly Springs site will produce up to
50 million doses of seasonal trivalent flu vaccines, which will
be for use in the United States.

Novartis also said it is seeking European Union approval
for a cell culture-derived influenza vaccine based on the
results of late-stage clinical studies.

Novartis is making additional investments in its Marburg,
Germany, site to expand capacity for flu cell culture vaccines
production in Europe.

“We are taking the lead in moving flu cell culture vaccine
manufacturing closer to a commercial reality now that the site
for a U.S. manufacturing plant has been chosen and the first EU
submission for a flu cell culture vaccine have been completed,”
said Dr. Daniel Vasella, chairman and chief executive of
Novartis, said in a statement.

U.S. clinical studies, which began in 2005, are ongoing.
The vaccines for the EU and US clinical trials have been
produced at the Novartis site in Marburg, where the product was
developed.

(Additional reporting by Anup Roy in Bangalore)