The investment has been made to increase supply of Sanofi Pasteur’s VaxigripTetra, an influenza vaccine containing two A strains (A/H1N1 and A/H3N2) and two B strains (B/Victoria and B/Yamagata).
“Influenza continues be a major public health problem around the world, causing serious complications, hospitalizations and deaths, mostly for certain high-risk individuals,” Sanofi Pasteru head David Loew said in a statement.
He added the “expansion reinforces Sanofi Pasteur's ability to tackle this underestimated health challenge.”
The dedicated facility is expected to commence operations in 2021 and will supply up to 70 countries.
Spokeswoman Laurence Bollack told this publication the plant will replace an existing facility at the site, with 335 jobs transferred over.
The site in Val de Reuil, about 100km northwest of Paris, manufactures a number of antigens for Sanofi-Pasteur’s vaccine portfolio, including meningococcal meningitis, yellow fever, mumps, influenza, hepatitis B, poliomyelitis, rabies.
Sanofi did not respond to requests for more information from this publication at the time of going to press.
The investment comes weeks after Sanofi completed its acquisition of Protein Sciences adding the US FDA approved recombinant protein-based influenza vaccine Flublok.