Sanofi pasteur, the vaccines division of the sanofi-aventis Group, announced the completion of construction of its new influenza vaccine manufacturing facility that is expected to more than double its production capacity in the United States. The new facility will further enable sanofi pasteur to support public health and protect individuals against both seasonal and pandemic influenza.

The new $150-million, 140,000 square-foot (13,000 square-meter) vaccine manufacturing plant is designed to more than double the site's capacity to over 100 million doses of influenza vaccine per year. The new manufacturing facility is currently projected to come on-line in late 2008 or early 2009 following the facility's licensing by the US Food and Drug Administration. Sanofi pasteur is the only company manufacturing inactivated influenza vaccine in the US.

"As the world's largest supplier of influenza vaccines, sanofi pasteur is committed to addressing current and future public health needs by investing in a robust research and development programme and an ambitious production plan for pandemic preparedness," said David Williams, Chairman and CEO, sanofi pasteur. "The completion of this new facility incorporating the latest technology in vaccine production, illustrates the company's priority to produce the largest number of doses of vaccine in the shortest time frame to face the threat of seasonal and pandemic influenza."

The construction completion follows last month's announcement from the U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt awarding sanofi pasteur a $77.4 million contract to retrofit its existing Swiftwater influenza vaccine manufacturing facility. Sanofi pasteur will contribute approximately $25 million toward the retrofit project.

Combining the capacities of new facility with the retrofitted facility should enable sanofi pasteur to triple its influenza vaccine capacity in the U.S., advancing the company's current leadership role as the largest supplier of influenza vaccine in the U.S. and the world. Sanofi pasteur also manufactures influenza vaccine in France, where it is expanding its influenza vaccine capacity, as well.