• Seqirus Liverpool is the largest vaccine manufacturing facility in the U.K., producing over 50m doses of seasonal influenza vaccine each year, with the ability to increase production to 200m doses in the event of an influenza pandemic.
• The site now has a high-speed fill-and-finish facility, which enables start-to-finish onshore manufacturing, where previously the vaccine would be sent abroad to be put into syringes. This now shortens supply lead time by more than one to two weeks per batch.
• The new facility represents an investment of nearly £50m creating more than 120 high value jobs.
• Seqirus is the largest provider of seasonal influenza vaccines to the U.K. and a major global supplier. The new facility will help meet growing global demand for seasonal influenza vaccines and helps with influenza pandemic preparedness for the U.K.

New Seqirus Facility Assures National and Global Vaccine Supply

First doses of Seqirus’s enhanced influenza vaccine, destined for the U.K., come off a new high-speed fill-and-finish line in Liverpool.

Fill-and-finish describes the final stages of vaccine production where the vaccine is filled into syringes, inspected, and packaged for distribution. This process was previously completed by an external partner abroad.

This enables Seqirus to complete the entire start-to-end vaccine manufacturing process at the Liverpool site. The new fill-and-finish facility was completed over a four-year period and is the result of a collaboration with local government who contributed £1m towards the near £50m investment.

The COVID-19 pandemic has demonstrated the importance of having facilities ready to support pandemic response. The new filling line will allow Seqirus to produce finished doses of influenza vaccine more quickly in the event of an influenza pandemic.

“Bringing the fill-and-finish capability in house means we can simplify the supply chain, allowing us to shorten lead times to supply vaccines to the U.K. and other governments who need them”, said Nigel Hilton, Head of Manufacturing and Site Head at Liverpool, “The £50 million investment also benefits the local Liverpool economy with the introduction of more than 120 high value local jobs at the site, with even more jobs opening up as we expand our supply capability further.”

Over the past year, NHS leaders have grappled with the prospect of COVID-19 co-circulating alongside seasonal influenza. To protect at-risk populations and accommodate the increased demand for seasonal influenza vaccines, the Seqirus Liverpool site increased vaccine production in the U.K. by nearly 30% in preparation for the most recent influenza season.

Sharon McHale, Head of Global Policy and Government Affairs at Seqirus, said “This is a proud moment for Seqirus and our local partners who helped make this possible. Our ability to make vaccines from start-to-finish on our Liverpool site enables us to be better assured of a continued supply of seasonal influenza vaccines in the U.K. and beyond, and speed response to the next influenza pandemic.”

About the Liverpool manufacturing site
Dating back to 1943, the Seqirus Liverpool manufacturing site is the largest of its kind in the U.K. able to complete the entire vaccine production process from start-to-finish without any external support. More than 50 million doses of flu vaccine a year are made and shipped across the entire world. The site is also a key part of our response strategy for a potential influenza pandemic, contracted to make 200 million doses of flu vaccines when it is needed. The site employs more than 650 people over 35,000 square metres

About Seqirus
Seqirus is part of CSL Limited (ASX: CSL). As one of the largest influenza vaccine providers in the world, Seqirus is a major contributor to the prevention of influenza globally and a transcontinental partner in pandemic preparedness. With state-of-the-art production facilities in the U.S., the U.K. and Australia, and leading R&D capabilities, Seqirus utilizes egg, cell and adjuvant technologies to offer a broad portfolio of differentiated influenza vaccines in more than 20 countries around the world.

About CSL
CSL (ASX:CSL) is a leading global biotechnology company with a dynamic portfolio of life-saving medicines, including those that treat hemophilia and immune deficiencies, as well as vaccines to prevent influenza. Since our start in 1916, we have been driven by our promise to save lives using the latest technologies.
Today, CSL — including our two businesses, CSL Behring and Seqirus - provides life-saving products to more than 70 countries and employs more than 27,000 people. Our unique combination of commercial strength, R&D focus and operational excellence enables us to identify, develop and deliver innovations so our patients can live life to the fullest. For more information about CSL Limited, visit www.csl.com.

For more information visit www.seqirus.com and www.csl.com.

MEDIA CONTACTS

EMMANUELLA DEKONOR
+44 (0) 7920 500 496
Emmanuella.Dekonor@seqirus.com

Christopher Silverwood
+44 (0) 7818 038 390
CSilverwood@RealChemistry.com