Seqirus currently employs 550 full-time employees in the Holly Springs facility. In November, they had a groundbreaking for a $140 million expansion to the Holly Springs campus. The expansion will also create roughly 120 new jobs over the next three years. The expansion is being built on the 185-acre site, building onto their existing 475,000 square-foot facility.
Although the $140M isn’t being directly invested into the community, it’s a huge boost to the Holly Springs economy. Seqirus makes a conscious effort to hire local workers for projects like this, and even non-local hires mean that we will have people that are coming to town to work on the expansion, and if they don’t need a hotel, they still have other needs like eating and shopping here in Holly Springs.
The Holly Springs facility is at the center of a growth plan to meet future demand for Seqirus’ cell-based quadrivalent influenza vaccine (QIVc). Seqirus, the largest cell-based influenza vaccine producer in the world, developed the first cell-based influenza vaccine in the U.S. for individuals four years of age and older and an adjuvanted influenza vaccine specifically for those 65 years and older. The new facility will allow Seqirus to increase capacity for formulation, fill and finish manufacturing of cell-based and adjuvanted influenza vaccines in global markets.
“According to the CDC, the 2017-2018 influenza season in the U.S. was one of the worst in recent years and influenza continues to be a public health threat,” said Gordon Naylor, President, Seqirus.
Seqirus has released results from their real-world evidence analysis indicating that its cell-based quadrivalent influenza vaccine (QIVc) was 36.2 percent more effective than standard egg-based quadrivalent vaccine (QIVe) in preventing influenza-like illness (ILI) captured within primary care visits in people aged 4 years and above during the 2017/18 influenza season in the United States, a season characterized by egg-adapted changes. When produced completely outside of the egg-based process, cell-based influenza vaccines avoid egg-adapted changes, which means they may offer a closer match and potentially improved protection compared to standard egg-based options in some seasons.
Developing new and better influenza vaccine technologies is a strategic priority for Seqirus, including further advances in cell-based technology and the use of adjuvants to enhance the immune response. The company has rapidly scaled up cell-based influenza vaccine production over recent years, which has enabled sufficient quantities of the vaccine to be available for real-world effectiveness studies.
Seqirus produces cell-based influenza vaccines at the Holly Springs facility. The facility was purpose-built in partnership with the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) to combat pandemic influenza threats. BARDA is part of the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
This public-private partnership is the first in the world to establish cell-based technology as a highly scalable method of production and has the potential to transform the global influenza vaccine market as we know it today.
“BARDA is committed to bringing forth innovation that can save lives. We know that the most effective approach to saving lives from pandemic influenza is to develop innovative technology that is used to combat seasonal influenza,” said BARDA Director Rick Bright, Ph.D. Seqirus licensed QIVc in 2016 and is supplying over 20 million doses to the U.S. market this season.
Earlier this year, the FDA approved Seqirus’ next-generation cell-based manufacturing process at Holly Springs, which will enable the company to continue to boost capacity for future influenza seasons.
The groundbreaking ceremony held on November 16, celebrated the expansion, and was attended by CSL CEO and Managing Director, Paul Perreault, as well as community members, public health entities, and state officials, including U.S. Senator Richard Burr of North Carolina and Holly Springs Mayor Dick Sears.
“The burden and impact of influenza remains a serious healthcare concern and ensuring we have effective vaccines available is a public health imperative,” said Senator Burr. “Today commemorates an important milestone for both our local community in North Carolina and our nation’s protection against severe illness and death caused by influenza. I am proud to support the development of innovative influenza vaccine technologies to help protect the American people.”
Construction of the facility is expected to be completed by April 2020.
