Sinovac completes construction of H1N1 virus seed bank

Sinovac Biotech announced today that it has completed construction of the H1N1 virus seed bank necessary to produce a virus antigen.

Sinovac received the seed virus from the US Center for Disease Control (CDC) on June 8, 2009 and started the H1N1 vaccine production on the same day. Sinovac expects to complete production of the first batch and initiate clinical trials of an H1N1 vaccine by the end of July 2009.

Mr. Weidong Yin, Chairman, President and CEO of Sinovac, commented, "On June 11, 2009, the World Health Organization declared the H1N1 virus a pandemic influenza outbreak. Having completed the construction of our virus seed bank, our H1N1 vaccine production remains on track and we look forward to initiating clinical trials by the end of next month. Sinovac's rapid response to the newly emerged disease outbreak demonstrates the Company's resources and capabilities for vaccine production and highlights our commitment to protect the public from virus transmission through the timely supply of vaccines."

Sinovac's production of Anflu for the 2009/2010 Northern Hemisphere influenza season is nearly completed. The production of H1N1 vaccine will not affect its production and launch of the seasonal flu vaccine for this coming flu season.