GlaxoSmithKline wins $63 million flu vaccine contract
Deal supports GSK’s adjuvant plus antigens technology; five-year contract could be worth an additional $44 million; government effort to shore up vaccine supplies continues unabated
Efforts to develop a pandemic flu vaccine continue apace. Indeed, for the last month it seemed that scientists were working on nothing but that and E. coli — the effect, perhaps, of seasonal concerns. Either way, its notable that the government continues to invest large sums on these projects, the most recent example being a $63.3 million Health and Human Services (HHS) award to industry heavyweight GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) to support the company’s pandemic vaccine research. The five-year contract also gives HHS the option to fund an additional $44 million of future clinical development programs.
GSK approach is unique in that it relies on the company’s adjuvant technology in combination with antigens to induce a strong immune response. “A limited global supply capacity of flu antigen makes it critical that we use innovative adjuvant system technology to produce a new generation of flu pandemic vaccines,” said GSK president David Stout. “GSK’s research in adjuvant technology over the past two decades uniquely positions our company to develop adjuvants designed to boost immune response and give broader protection while using smaller amounts of antigen.”
-read more in this company news release
