Novartis Plans Vaccines Facility

Novartis is planning what it calls the first U.S. plant for cell-culture-derived influenza vaccines, at a site in Holly Springs, N.C.

The company says construction will begin in 2007; when the plant is completed and approved for commercial production, it will have capacity to produce up to 50 million doses of seasonal flu vaccine. The plant is expected to cost $600 million, a figure that includes a recent $220 million award from the Department of Health & Human Services (C&EN, May 8, page 22).

According to Novartis, new cell culture technology for vaccine production promises advantages over traditional chicken-egg-based methods, including greater reliability and shorter production lead time. "These advantages could be pivotal in the event of an influenza pandemic," the company says.

Separately, Novartis says it has submitted the first cell-culture-based flu vaccine in the European Union, where it seeks to become the first commercial producer of cell culture flu vaccines. U.S. clinical studies began in 2005 and are ongoing, the firm adds.