FDA licenses Sanofi flu vaccine plant

The US Food and Drug Administration has licensed the new influenza vaccine manufacturing facility of Sanofi Pasteur, the vaccines division  of French drug major Sanofi-Aventis, located in Swiftwater,  Pennsylvania. It will incorporate the latest technology in egg-based  vaccine production as part of the company's commitment to produce the  largest number of doses of vaccine in the shortest time frame to address  the threat of seasonal and pandemic flu. The licensure is for production  of the company's seasonal trivalent flu vaccine, Fluzone, and augments  the current production capacity for this product in the USA, where the  firm has invested some $150.0 million. The new facility will produce 100  million doses when operating at full capacity, says Sanofi Pasteur.