CSL boosting flu vaccine supply in coronavirus crisis

There has been a strong take-up of the flu vaccine as people seek to bolster their immunity amid the coronavirus pandemic.

CSL and Takeda will leverage their leading-edge expertise and work that is already under way to combat the virus.

Australia’s biggest health company, CSL, is stepping up supplies of the latest flu vaccine after Health Minister Greg Hunt said there has been a strong take-up as people seek to bolster their immunity amid the coronavirus pandemic.

GP clinics and pharmacies across the country have begun vaccinating Australians in the past two weeks against the latest strain of flu.

Those aged over 65, young children and people who are classified as high risk can access free vaccinations under the government’s national Immunisation Program.

While the flu vaccine won’t protect against COVID-19, it is recommended to ensure people’s immune systems aren’t weakened by seasonal influenza and increasing their vulnerability to coronavirus.

Mr Hunt confirmed CSL, via its subsidiary Seqirus, was stepping up supply of vaccines after demand had already been met.

“On the National Immunisation Program, we have 8.5 million flu vaccinations. The advice that I have is that we have sufficient national immunisation program and other suppliers in Australia, Mr Hunt said.

“But out of an abundance of caution, we have also spoken with suppliers and indeed I have spoken with the global chief executive of CSL within the last 48 hours.

“I am very confident that CSL, which is a great Australian company, will provide additional supplies.”

The ramp-up of supplies is to ensure that everybody has access to a vaccination through the National Immunisation Program or through the private market, Mr Hunt said.

“A flu vaccine is a very important thing. On all of our current projections, we are going to meet all of the demand.”

CSL’s vaccine business Seqirus is the only onshore flu vaccine manufacturer in Australia and has been working closely with the government in the past three months to ensure it has enough supply, particularly for older Australians who are most at risk.

Seqirus executive director of commercial operations for Australia and New Zealand, Danielle Dowell told The Australian last month that the company had been aiming to ensure this year’s flu vaccine was available as early as possible because of COVID-19.

“While we are seeing increased discussion around flu vaccination programs in light of the COVID-19 outbreak, Seqirus is well prepared to respond,” Ms Dowell said.

“We’re working closely with health departments and other immunisation providers to ensure that the product is available as early as possible in the lead-up to flu season.”

CSL, which overtook Commonwealth Bank to become the biggest company on the ASX last month, has been at the forefront in the global fight against coronavirus.

This week it joined forces with Takeda to accelerate the ­development of plasma-derived therapy to treat COVID-19.

The treatment, which will need regulatory approval, involves extracting antibodies from the plasma of people who have recovered from COVID-19 and developing that into a hyperimmune immunoglobulin medicine to help coronavirus-infected patients with serious complications fight the virus.

CSL and Takeda will leverage their leading-edge expertise and work that is already under way to combat the virus. The pair have also invited other companies and institutions to join their alliance to fast-track the therapy’s development.

The alliance followed CSL lending its expertise to the University of Queensland’s research effort to develop a COVID-19 vaccine, including donating its proprietary adjuvant technology, which is used in vaccines to create a stronger immune response and to speed vaccine production and output.

University of Queensland researchers have since confirmed they have created their first vaccine candidate and will now produce it on a larger scale for additional testing to determine its effectiveness against the virus.