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Novartis to build vaccine plant in U.S.
By Val Brickates Kennedy, MarketWatch
Last Update: 7:23 PM ET May 10, 2006
BOSTON (MarketWatch) -- Novartis AG plans to build a new vaccine plant in the United States that will use the latest technology to produce avian-flu vaccine more quickly for the U.S. market in case of a pandemic, according to Novartis Chief Executive Daniel Vasella.
In an interview with MarketWatch late Wednesday, Vasella said that the plant, which will likely cost around $400 million, will tap new cell-based culturing technologies. The executive declined to speculate on how long it will take to bring the plant on line, saying only it could take "several years."
Although Novartis (NVSnovartis a g sponsored adr NVS ) has not made a final decision yet on where it will be sited, Vasella noted that North Carolina is a strong possibility. He said that the nation's two largest states for the biotechnology sector, Massachusetts and California, were not being considered.
"We have three sites now we are evaluating," added Vasella. "I think within the next few weeks, we will be able to make a decision and be able to make an announcement."
Currently, flu vaccines are created from cells cultured in chicken eggs, a process that ranges from six to nine months -- a painfully long time to wait in the face of an international pandemic. Health experts also have pointed out that an avian-flu pandemic could also result in the decimation of the very birds needed to produce those vaccines.
Cell-based production, experts say, could shorten that time line to three to six months, while reducing the reliance on bird flocks.
Last week, Novartis was awarded a $221 million contract by the U.S. Health and Human Services Department to work on cell-based production technologies as part of the government's avian-flu pandemic plan. HHS has likewise awarded similar contracts to Belgian conglomerate Solvay SA, U.K. drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline, European conglomerate Sanofi-Aventis, U.S. defense contractor Computer Sciences Corp. and Gaithersburg, Md.-based MedImmune Inc.
'In every country, where you produce, you expect the country to knock on the door and say, "Serve me first."'
— Daniel Vasella, Novartis
Vasella said that while the plant would be initially used to produce flu vaccine, it could later be used to produce other vaccines and biotech drugs such as monoclonal antibodies.
When asked if Novartis expects to be able to bid more easily for U.S. contracts with an American facility in place, he replied: "It's the opposite -- we will be obliged to have U.S. contracts.
"In every country, where you produce, you expect the country to knock on the door and say, 'Serve me first.' That's natural; it's to be expected, and I wouldn't expect anything else," Vasella added.
In April, Novartis acquired California vaccine maker Chiron Corp. , of which it already owned about a 40% stake, for more than $5 billion.
Chiron had been awarded a U.S. contract for $62.5 million in October 2005 to supply the government with its experimental avian-flu vaccine. Because of ongoing quality-control problems at its flu-vaccine plant in the United Kingdom, the order is not expected to be filled until later this fall. Chiron also has had similar problems at its vaccine-manufacturing facility in Germany.
Novartis is carrying on Chiron's work of developing its avian-flu vaccine, which also contains a compound known as an adjuvant. Vasella said that the Chiron adjuvant should make the vaccine more effective in combating variants of the H5N1 avian-flu virus, which could allow for mass inoculations ahead of a pandemic.
Vasella, a physician by training, said that he is a member of the company's ongoing human clinical trial for the vaccine. "I actually have H5N1, or at least part of the virus, in me right now," he remarked.
In related news, Vasella declined to comment if Novartis will bid on Pfizer Inc.'s consumer-products unit, citing company policy. Pfizer has said that it is interested in selling the division, which some analysts have valued at about $14 billion. Novartis has been speculated to be a leading bidder.
Novartis to build vaccine plant in U.S.
By Val Brickates Kennedy, MarketWatch
Last Update: 7:23 PM ET May 10, 2006
BOSTON (MarketWatch) -- Novartis AG plans to build a new vaccine plant in the United States that will use the latest technology to produce avian-flu vaccine more quickly for the U.S. market in case of a pandemic, according to Novartis Chief Executive Daniel Vasella.
In an interview with MarketWatch late Wednesday, Vasella said that the plant, which will likely cost around $400 million, will tap new cell-based culturing technologies. The executive declined to speculate on how long it will take to bring the plant on line, saying only it could take "several years."
Although Novartis (NVSnovartis a g sponsored adr NVS ) has not made a final decision yet on where it will be sited, Vasella noted that North Carolina is a strong possibility. He said that the nation's two largest states for the biotechnology sector, Massachusetts and California, were not being considered.
"We have three sites now we are evaluating," added Vasella. "I think within the next few weeks, we will be able to make a decision and be able to make an announcement."
Currently, flu vaccines are created from cells cultured in chicken eggs, a process that ranges from six to nine months -- a painfully long time to wait in the face of an international pandemic. Health experts also have pointed out that an avian-flu pandemic could also result in the decimation of the very birds needed to produce those vaccines.
Cell-based production, experts say, could shorten that time line to three to six months, while reducing the reliance on bird flocks.
Last week, Novartis was awarded a $221 million contract by the U.S. Health and Human Services Department to work on cell-based production technologies as part of the government's avian-flu pandemic plan. HHS has likewise awarded similar contracts to Belgian conglomerate Solvay SA, U.K. drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline, European conglomerate Sanofi-Aventis, U.S. defense contractor Computer Sciences Corp. and Gaithersburg, Md.-based MedImmune Inc.
'In every country, where you produce, you expect the country to knock on the door and say, "Serve me first."'
— Daniel Vasella, Novartis
Vasella said that while the plant would be initially used to produce flu vaccine, it could later be used to produce other vaccines and biotech drugs such as monoclonal antibodies.
When asked if Novartis expects to be able to bid more easily for U.S. contracts with an American facility in place, he replied: "It's the opposite -- we will be obliged to have U.S. contracts.
"In every country, where you produce, you expect the country to knock on the door and say, 'Serve me first.' That's natural; it's to be expected, and I wouldn't expect anything else," Vasella added.
In April, Novartis acquired California vaccine maker Chiron Corp. , of which it already owned about a 40% stake, for more than $5 billion.
Chiron had been awarded a U.S. contract for $62.5 million in October 2005 to supply the government with its experimental avian-flu vaccine. Because of ongoing quality-control problems at its flu-vaccine plant in the United Kingdom, the order is not expected to be filled until later this fall. Chiron also has had similar problems at its vaccine-manufacturing facility in Germany.
Novartis is carrying on Chiron's work of developing its avian-flu vaccine, which also contains a compound known as an adjuvant. Vasella said that the Chiron adjuvant should make the vaccine more effective in combating variants of the H5N1 avian-flu virus, which could allow for mass inoculations ahead of a pandemic.
Vasella, a physician by training, said that he is a member of the company's ongoing human clinical trial for the vaccine. "I actually have H5N1, or at least part of the virus, in me right now," he remarked.
In related news, Vasella declined to comment if Novartis will bid on Pfizer Inc.'s consumer-products unit, citing company policy. Pfizer has said that it is interested in selling the division, which some analysts have valued at about $14 billion. Novartis has been speculated to be a leading bidder.
posted by Jones Lang LaSalle NJ News Blog at 2:17 PM
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