Sanofi ships flu vaccine to US
01 Aug 2008
Sanofi Pasteur has begun shipping its influenza vaccine to the US.
The Sanofi-aventis vaccines division said Fluzone this year contains three new strains of the influenza virus, which correspond with recommendations made by the World Health Organisation (WHO) earlier this year.
It has also reported it is in the process of expanding its influenza vaccine production site in the US, which is set to more than double its US production capacity by the 2009-2010 season.
President and chief executive officer Wayne Pisano said: "The early shipment of Fluzone vaccine by Sanofi Pasteur gives healthcare providers greater flexibility in planning their vaccination efforts."
He added that the addition of three new strains into the medicine was "unprecedented" and the firm had shown its reliability by meeting a tight production timeline.
The company recently announced the opening of a new facility in France, which can produce vaccines against 20 diseases but is able to switch to pandemic influenza vaccine in the event of a pandemic strain being identified by the WHO.
