On Aug. 7, 2017, Seqirus announced that the accelerated development of cell-based manufacturing technology at its state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in Holly Springs, North Carolina, has delivered a four-fold increase in seasonal influenza vaccine output in just two years, strengthening the United States’ capacity to respond to pandemic threats.

The Holly Springs facility was completed in 2012 and promptly designated as critical national infrastructure for pandemic preparedness in the U.S. It harnesses promising cell-based technology as a modern, efficient and highly scalable alternative to traditional egg-based manufacturing that also offers the potential to avoid possible mismatch scenarios in influenza seasons. Additionally, the facility produces the Seqirus proprietary adjuvant, MF59, which can have a dose-sparing effect, thereby further boosting the output of influenza vaccine during a pandemic emergency.

Seqirus acquired the Holly Springs facility in 2015 and has successfully accelerated development of the technology, quadrupling seasonal influenza vaccine output from 5 million trivalent (three-strain) doses to around 20 million quadrivalent (four-strain) doses in just two years. At this capacity, Seqirus is able to produce 150 million doses of adjuvanted pandemic vaccine within the first 6 months of a pandemic declaration, and is also well advanced in delivering surge capacity programs to increase output to 200 million pandemic doses.