Novartis, in cooperation with HHS, inaugurates $1 billion large-scale US based cell-culture influenza vaccine facility

Swiss drug major Novartis has officially inaugurated the USA's first ever large-scale flu cell culture vaccine and adjuvant manufacturing facility in Holly Springs, North Carolina. The facility is a result of a partnership with the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). It is the first of its kind in the USA and highlights an important milestone in efforts to improve influenza vaccine manufacturing technology there and enhance domestic pandemic preparedness, the company said.

Novartis was awarded $486 million by the US government in January for its flu-vaccine plant for Holly Springs, and the company had already won a $220 million HHS grant for the project in 2006, breaking ground on it last May.

"We are proud to be one of the first companies to bring influenza cell culture as well as adjuvant technology to the United States," said Daniel Vasella, chief executive and chairman of Novartis. "We have seen a great need to invest into new technologies for flu vaccines that will allow for quicker and more reliable production capacity. We are pleased to be working closely with the US government to build a world-class, state of the art manufacturing facility in the US that will change the way we manufacture influenza vaccines in the future."