CSL Seqirus, Sanofi and GSK have collectively secured $72 million in funding from the U.S. health department to boost the country’s supply of bird flu vaccines.
The grant comes from the Department of Health and Human Services' Center for Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) under a national preparedness initiative, the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response said Friday.
The three companies will fill and finish additional doses of their influenza A(H5) vaccines, turning bulk materials into ready-to-use vials or syringes that can be immediately distributed if needed.
The manufacturers will also make additional bulk antigens that match the circulating bird flu strains. And Sanofi, in an ongoing partnership with BARDA, will preserve a continuous supply of domestic eggs to be able to make more doses of flu vaccines, according to the agency.
The move comes as the U.S. is battling an outbreak of the highly pathogenic H5N1 avian flu virus in dairy cattle this year. Since March 24, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has recorded 14 human cases of H5 infections, including four following exposure to dairy cows, nine to poultry and one with no immediately known contact with animals. No known human-to-human spread has been reported in the country.
“Although the risk to Americans from influenza A(H5) virus infection remains low, we’re leaning forward with our preparedness efforts,” BARDA Director and Deputy Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response Gary Disbrow, Ph.D., said in a statement Friday. “As influenza A(H5) virus infections in domesticated animals continue to spread, the risk for human infection could rise. In an abundance of caution, we are taking steps to increase the amount of vaccine that could be immediately available if needed.”
GSK has been awarded $10.6 million through two BARDA awards for pandemic influenza preparedness since spring 2024, a company spokesperson confirmed to Fierce Pharma.
CSL Seqirus will get $34 million from the new grant, according to the company. The CSL unit will deliver about 3 million finished doses of its adjuvanted H5N1 vaccine and manufacture an additional lot of H5N8 antigen, the company said in a separate release Friday.
The antigens included in the CSL shots are similar to the H5N1 strains circulating among U.S. dairy cattle and are therefore “expected to induce a degree of protection in vaccinated individuals,” CSL said, citing CDC data.
Before Friday’s announcement, CSL had last week announced another BARDA grant, worth $121.4 million, to increase supplies of its MF59 adjuvant used in influenza vaccines.