Sanofi and the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) are expanding their capacity to manufacture flu shots. They are breaking ground on a two-story formulation and filling facility at the company’s sprawling campus in Swiftwater, Pennsylvania.
Sanofi will fill syringes and vials using isolator barrier technology as well as single-use technology to provide flexibility.
This is the third major manufacturing investment for BARDA at the site as part of a contract signed in 2019 to increase domestic production capabilities for pandemic flu vaccines. The contract supports the clinical development of an adjuvanted recombinant pandemic influenza vaccine that uses the same technology as Sanofi’s recombinant quadrivalent flu shot. It also expands Swiftwater’s site capacity to include these technologies in addition to the current egg-based platform capability.
The purpose of the contract is to expand preparedness by leveraging the new recombinant, protein-based technology to deliver a pandemic vaccine.
BARDA is part of the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
