Seqirus Produces Cell-Based Influenza Vaccines at Commercial Scale

On June 21, 2017, Seqirus announced that it has successfully produced cell-based influenza vaccines at commercial scale using a candidate vaccine virus (CVV) that has been isolated and grown in cells, rather than in eggs. The company produced the vaccines at its manufacturing facility in Holly Springs, NC.

CVVs are prepared by the World Health Organization (WHO) Global Influenza Surveillance and Response System (GISRS) and associated laboratories and are used by manufacturers to develop and produce influenza vaccines. In 2016, WHO began to recommend cell-derived CVVs and FDA issued an approval for Seqirus to use them in the production of cell-based influenza vaccines at Holly Springs.

This year, Seqirus was successful in using a cell-derived H3N2 CVV in the production of its cell-based seasonal influenza vaccine, making the end-to-end production of this strain exclusively cell-based. The company plans to utilize cell-derived CVV technology for the production of other vaccine strains produced at the Holly Springs site in the future.