Pressroom

Source: Raleigh News & Observer (North Carolina)

By: Murawski, John

06/17/2014

A five-year old vaccine plant in Holly Springs, N.C., has received U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval to make commercial vaccines for seasonal influenza using cell cultures instead of chicken eggs. The 430,000-square-foot Novartis facility previously was approved only to manufacture emergency vaccine for flu pandemics. The company is in the process of exiting its vaccine business and soliciting bids for its flu vaccines and products. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority contributed about half of the $1 billion in funding for the facility.