Business
Microbix And Hunan Biopharmaceutical To Build Asia's Largest Influenza Vaccine Facility
Microbix And Hunan Biopharmaceutical To Build Asia's Largest Influenza Vaccine Facility
About this update from Microbix Biosystems Inc.
[{"type":"text","content":"\n\n\n\nOct. 27, 2009 (Canada NewsWire Group) -- TORONTO, Oct. 27 /CNW/ -- Microbix, (TSX:MBX) a developer of a patented technology that doubles the output of influenza vaccine production, announced today it has signed a joint venture agreement with the Hunan Biopharmaceutical Co. Ltd. (a Hunan Province state-owned enterprise) for initial financing to construct Asia's largest influenza vaccine production facility and the third largest vaccine plant in the world.Today's agreement forms an equal partnership joint venture to build and operate a $200-million facility, located in Changsha National Biomedical Park near Changsha City, the capital of Hunan Province, which will have the capacity to produce more than 100 million doses of seasonal influenza vaccine annually, and up to 300 million doses of a pandemic influenza vaccine in the event of an outbreak to immunize against a single strain of influenza.The facility, for which construction will begin in early 2010 and be fully operational by 2013, will be designed around Microbix VIRUSMAX(TM) vaccine technology. More than five years in development at Microbix, VIRUSMAX is designed to increase influenza vaccine yields and has demonstrated an average yield increase of two-fold over current production methods.William J. Gastle, Microbix Chairman and CEO, said, \"We're pleased that our innovative VIRUSMAX influenza vaccine technology will contribute significantly to seasonal and pandemic influenza preparedness in the future.\" This facility will make China a leader in the production of flu vaccine. Microbix will play a major role in meeting the public health needs in China where, due to limited vaccine production capacity, only two percent of the population is immunized against flu, while the World Health Organization recommends that countries have the capacity to vaccinate at least 60 percent of their populations.Gastle added, \"This facility will make China an important source of influenza vaccine in the Asia region as well as offering significant capacity for the Chinese market which is growing significantly. In five years, the China market is expected to demand up to 500 million influenza vaccine doses annually.\"The Microbix-Hunan project brings government ownership into the global vaccine industry at a technological level not previously achieved in China. A substantial investment i...