Takeda and Baxter make pandemic flu vaccine plans for Japan
pharmafile | December 7, 2010 | News story | Manufacturing and Production |Â Â Takeda, baxter, pharma manufacturing, vaccine manufacturing, vaccinesÂ
Takeda has made another move into the vaccines sector with the expansion of a deal with Baxter International for the use of a cell culture technology for making influenza vaccines.
The Japanese drugmaker has gained an exclusive licence in Japan for Baxter’s proprietary Vero technology.
Traditionally, vaccines are manufactured using hens’ eggs, but this process requires very large amounts of eggs and takes at least six months, making it difficult to keep up with a rapidly mutating virus. The Vero cell culture process can be initiated more rapidly thanks to its use of a native virus that does not need to be modified to allow growth in eggs, thus accelerating vaccine availability.
Two companies will use it to develop an H5N1 pandemic influenza vaccine for the Japanese market, which they hope to produce at full commercial scale by the first-quarter of 2014.
The first Vero cell culture-based pandemic influenza vaccine was produced in 2009, and in September this year Baxter also announced the first approval – in Austria – for a seasonal flu vaccine based on the technology.
Takeda’s president and chief executive Yasuchika Hasegawa said: “We are committed to fulfilling our social responsibility as a pharmaceutical company by delivering vaccine to the Japanese market as soon as possible.”
In addition to developing a pandemic vaccine, Takeda and Baxter will also work together to try to encourage the Japanese government to invest in a large-scale manufacturing facility, based on cell culture production, for flu vaccines.
“We believe our joint efforts will help support Japan’s public health efforts, particularly in the high-priority area of pandemic preparedness,” commented Baxter’s chief executive Robert Parkinson.
Earlier this year Takeda was selected to receive a public subsidy of up to 3.6 billion yen from the Japanese government to support the development and production of pandemic flu vaccines. The new agreement with Baxter will allow Takeda to apply for the government’s next public offering, which covers establishment of commercial facilities for vaccine production.
In a statement, the two companies said Takeda would pay Baxter upfront cash, development cost reimbursements and technology transfer, regulatory and commercial milestone payments, as well as royalties on eventual vaccine sales.
Phil Taylor
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