The new facility will allow Sanofi Pasteur, the Vaccines global business unit of Sanofi, to expand supply of VaxigripTetra to up to 70 countries in six continents. The new quadrivalent influenza vaccine contains two A strains and two B strains of influenza virus, as per the World Health Organization's recommendation.
David Loew, Executive VP at Sanofi and Head of Sanofi Pasteur, said: “Influenza continues be a major public health problem around the world, causing serious complications, hospitalisations and deaths, mostly for certain high-risk individuals. As a global leader in flu vaccines, this expansion reinforces Sanofi Pasteur's ability to tackle this underestimated health challenge."
Philippe Luscan, Executive VP, Global Industrial Affairs, Sanofi, said: "This project brings together the expertise of our people with our leading industrial know-how and illustrates our commitment to manufacturing excellence solutions. Our investment underlines Sanofi's intent to strengthen our industrial capacities in France as a major centre of influenza vaccines production for worldwide markets."
The new Val de Reuil facility will be the only site of its kind in France and Sanofi Pasteur remains the sole influenza vaccine producer in the country.
This investment is one of several major capital expenditures Sanofi has made in recent years to improve and expand its vaccine production capacities across France, the US and Mexico.
Sanofi plans to complete the expansion by 2021, subject to relevant health authority approvals and will begin producing vaccines in this new facility in 2022.
