U.S. HHS orders for an additional 29 million doses of MedImmune's influenza vaccine

MedImmune announced today that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has placed an order for an additional 29 million doses of its live attenuated influenza vaccine (LAIV) against the 2009 H1N1 influenza virus. This brings HHS orders to date to more than 40 million vaccine doses, with a total cumulative contract value of approximately $453 million. Previous HHS orders for approximately 13 million doses of LAIV for the 2009 H1N1 strain were placed in May and July.

The vaccine received approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Sept. 15 and is indicated for the active immunization of individuals 2-49 years of age against influenza caused by pandemic (H1N1) 2009 virus.

MedImmune's development of LAIV for this strain of H1N1 began at the end of April, when the company received the novel virus from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Enough bulk vaccine to fill all orders placed by HHS has already been manufactured and about 3.4 million doses have been released by the FDA. Distribution will occur at the direction of public health authorities.

"At MedImmune, our mission is to develop and deliver medicines that change lives, and we are proud that our innovative LAIV technology may help protect the public from the threat of 2009 H1N1 influenza," said Tony Zook, president of MedImmune. "We will continue to work collaboratively with the U.S. government and public health authorities to contribute to the response to this unpredictable infectious disease."