AstraZeneca ($AZN) snagged a contract in the U.K. that will make its Fluenz nasal spray the vaccine of choice for children ages two to 17.
Though details on the contract are few, it's expected to exceed £100 million ($156.7 million) and cover up to 9 million children once the program is in place. But the agreement won't roll out until September 2014, because AstraZeneca does not now have the ability to manufacture the number of doses needed, according to an InPharm report. The spray costs £14 ($22), but that value will likely be discounted under the contract, the publication reports.
Fluenz--known as FluMist in the U.S.--differs from rival products made by Sanofi ($SNY), GlaxoSmithKline ($GSK) and Novartis ($NVS), because it comes as a nasal spray rather than an injection. AstraZeneca's MedImmune unit, which recently announced cutbacks in its vaccines business in California, manufactures the FluMist products.
- check out the InPharm story
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