Europe Purchases 665,000 Pre-Pandemic Influenza Vaccines

CSL Seqirus today announced it was selected by the Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Authority (HERA) to provide 665,000 pre-pandemic vaccine doses for fifteen EU and EEA Member States and the "Union Civil Protection Mechanism.".

The 4-year contract includes an option for participating authorities to purchase up to an additional 40 million doses of the egg-based, non-mRNA pre-pandemic vaccine over the contract duration. 

Announced on June 11, 2024, this European Commission (EC) acquisition of pre-pandemic (zoonotic) vaccine will create a stockpile of vaccines available to support the EC’s outbreak and pre-pandemic response.

According to media reporting on June 5, 2024, Finland became the first EU country to offer avian influenza vaccinations to people this year.

Four influenza pandemics have occurred over the past century, with the 1918 pandemic being the most severe in recent history, with an estimated mortality of up to 50 million people worldwide.

Raja Rajaram, CSL Seqirus, Head of Global Medical Strategy, commented in a press release, “This agreement will help in Europe’s resolve to maintain robust preparedness and rapid response capabilities for this potential threat.”

Under the terms of the agreement, CSL Seqirus will deliver pre-pandemic vaccines that are well-matched to the H5 of the currently circulating H5N1 strain.

The risk of influenza-associated morbidity and mortality is greater with pandemic influenza than with seasonal influenza because there is likely to be little or no pre-existing immunity to the novel virus in the human population. The timing and severity of pandemic influenza (bird flu) is unpredictable.

In Europe, various pandemic vaccines have already been approved.

In the U.S., the Food and Drug Administration has already approved CSL Sequirus's AUDENZ™, an inactivated vaccine for active immunization to prevent disease caused by the influenza A virus H5N1 subtype.

As of June 11, 2024, the U.S. CDC says annual flu shots are not designed to protect people from pandemic influenza.