As one of the largest flu vaccine makers in the world, Seqirus is working overtime to churn out doses amid a key influenza season. Even with demand at an all-time high, the company is also looking to the future—and it's chosen Australia as the home of an ambitious manufacturing center.
Looking to support a 10-year supply pact with the Aussie government, Seqirus will lay out $800 million to build a cell-based vaccine biomanufacturing facility in Melbourne that will eventually employ more than 1,000 workers, the company said Monday.
The new plant will be located in Tullamarine in the Melbourne Airport Business Park and is set to go online in 2026, Seqirus said. The company did not disclose the planned footprint by square footage in a release.
The site will not only produce seasonal influenza vaccines for international use, but also shots for viruses local to Australia, including antivenom for snakes, spiders and "marine creatures," and the world’s only human vaccine for Q-Fever, a bacterial infection spread by livestock, the company said.
The Melbourne site will complement existing production at Seqirus' manufacturing facility in Holly Springs, North Carolina, and will also produce a key adjuvant used in some of the company's vaccines.
