Georgia eyes flu vaccine facility

Solvay Pharmaceuticals Inc. is in the running for a major federal contract to produce a new type of flu vaccine -- a prospect that could bring a first-of-its-kind vaccine manufacturing plant to Georgia.

Solvay Pharmaceuticals, which is a part of a Belgium-based global pharmaceutical company with its U.S. headquarters in Marietta, has been a major supplier of traditional influenza vaccines since the late 1940s. The company recently developed a new type of vaccine that is already approved in Europe to prevent seasonal flu and is under development in Europe to inoculate against the deadly avian flu strain.

Now, Solvay is hoping to bring that technology to the United States -- with a little help from the federal government.

Solvay responded this summer to a request for proposals (RFP) from the federal Department of Health & Human Services that called for companies to develop domestically manufactured flu vaccines using cell-based technology or gene-based technologies. Cell-based technology was exactly what Solvay had been developing in Europe and had begun building a state-of-the-art manufacturing facility for in 2003.

"We are very hopeful," said Neil Hirsch, Solvay spokesperson. "We believe that we have the experience that will be very relevant to bringing the technology to the United States and producing it domestically."

All of the flu vaccines licensed in the United States are made from a lengthy process that involves injecting the flu strain into hen eggs and allowing the virus to incubate. Cell-based vaccines -- which are approved overseas, but not yet in the United States -- can be made much more quickly and efficiently by using cell cultures instead of hen eggs for production.

Federal officials are looking to expand capability to make vaccines and are concerned about the "vulnerabilities" of relying on one type of vaccine production, according to the RFP.

Those familiar with the vaccine industry say Solvay's advances in Europe will give the company a major edge in the competition.

"They know how to build a production facility, they know how to manage it and they know how to manage the technologies that are used to produce vaccines through cell-derived culture systems, so they're very well placed," said David Neumann, executive director of the National Partnership for Immunization. "They're in a very good position, but there are other companies who are pretty far down the R&D pipeline who will give them a run for their money."

Hirsch would not comment on whether Solvay would build the plant in Georgia if it wins the contract, but everyone from local biotech boosters to U.S. Rep. Tom Price seems to be hoping Solvay would build close to home since the plant would represent an estimated $400 million to $500 million investment.

"These are folks who are really on the cutting edge. They're a great corporate citizen in Georgia and they're doing wonderful things around the world," said Price, R-Roswell. "My desire is to see if they can develop their next manufacturing plant here in Georgia."

The federal agency won't say which other companies are in the running, but those familiar with the industry speculate the competition includes companies already manufacturing the traditional flu vaccine, such as Paris-based Sanofi- Aventis (NYSE: SNY) and Maryland-based MedImmune Inc. (Nasdaq: MEDI).

Neumann says many pharmaceutical companies -- from global giants to smaller biotech firms -- are hungry for these federal dollars.

"Because of the interest in applying new technology and because of the public health importance of getting this process moving, I would think their interest is very keen," he said.

Georgia economic development officials aren't wasting any time either. They have been supporting Solvay's bid and working with Georgia's congressional delegation in Washington, D.C., to push for a plant in Georgia and bolster the state's growing biotech industry.

"This would be one more huge course of bricks in the industry that we are building," said Jeff Strane, director of the innovation and technology office at the Georgia Department of Economic Development. "It would be Georgia's only pharmaceutical vaccine manufacturing facility. It's a big opportunity for Georgia to continue to grow an industry that is very strategically important to employment growth for Georgians."

Biotech executives say a new Solvay plant would bring many new opportunities.

"It would serve as a center for vaccine and manufacturing jobs of a high-skilled nature, and it would be one more example of the biotech industry helping build communities and bring high-quality jobs and career opportunities," said Dr. Russell Medford, president and CEO of Alpharetta-based AtheroGenics Inc. and chairman of the Georgia Biomedical Partnership Inc.

The competition for this new federal funding comes amidst fears of a flu pandemic and renewed concern about the deadly avian flu, which has struck about 120 people in Asia, killing half of them. Under a separate program, several drug manufacturers already have been given federal grants to develop vaccines against the H5N1 virus known as avian flu.

On Nov. 1, President George W. Bush asked Congress for $7.1 billion in funding for flu preparedness, including $2.8 billion to accelerate new flu-vaccine technology. He said the nation needs to improve its ability to "rapidly produce new vaccines against a pandemic strain."

source: Atlanta Business Chronicle