GSK Plc, Sanofi and CSL Ltd. secured $72 million from the US government to ramp up production of bird flu vaccines as a nationwide outbreak among livestock and poultry has led to several human infections that have raised concerns about further spread.
The companies will use the funds to fill vials and pre-filled syringes with stockpiled vaccine ingredients, aimed at raising the country’s total supply of ready-to-use doses to 10 million within the first quarter of 2025, Dawn O’Connell, the Department of Health and Human Services’ assistant secretary for preparedness and response, said in an interview with Bloomberg News.
The H5N1 bird flu strain has killed hundreds of people over the past two decades and is recognized as a pandemic threat. Almost all human cases in the current US outbreak, including two new cases identified Thursday in California, have stemmed from exposure to sick animals, causing only mild disease. However, state and federal health officials are still investigating an unusual case in Missouri, where the patient had no prior animal exposure, to determine if there was human-to-human spread, though none has yet been identified.
The Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response has worked with flu vaccine manufacturers since 2005 as part of a program aimed at averting pandemics. The latest award, which includes $37.9 million for CSL, $23.4 million for Sanofi and $10.5 million for GSK, would more than double the nation’s supply of shots targeting bird flu.
“That is enough to get a real response going, should one be needed,” O’Connell said.
Under the agreement, GSK, Sanofi and CSL will also make additional bulk vaccine ingredients matched to circulating strains of bird flu. The virus driving the current outbreak hasn’t mutated in a way that would affect the efficacy of the stockpiled vaccines, O’Connell said.
Some long-used flu vaccines are made using eggs, and Sanofi will provide a continuous supply of them to the US to address potential bird flu outbreaks or other purposes.
As of Thursday, bird flu was detected in 254 dairy herds across 14 states, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. With the additional two cases in California, the outbreak has now infected 16 people in the US. Both sick farmworkers in California have been offered antivirals and are recovering, CDC Principal Deputy Director Nirav Shah told reporters Friday.
As infections continue, ASPR has steadily ramped up investment in shots. The agency has made at least $380 million in awards this year to fund development and production of bird flu vaccines, including an experimental mRNA shot from Moderna Inc.
Although farm workers who come into contact with animals are at higher risk of contracting H5N1, O’Connell said, there’s no current reason to deploy bird flu shots to them or the general public. “The risk to human health remains low, but it’s prudent for us to be prepared in this way,” she said.
Finland is the only country to begin vaccinating its population against bird flu. If genetic changes occur in circulating H5 viruses, then similar measures might be considered here, said Richard Webby, a bird flu researcher at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis.
For now, he said, “I think it’s a tad premature to do any form of mass vaccination at this stage.”
Missouri Case
Health authorities have identified 112 health-care workers who were exposed to the Missouri patient who was hospitalized with bird flu, but had no known animal exposure, CDC officials said on the call. Health officials are focusing on six contacts who had respiratory symptoms.
A CDC investigation is looking whether the exposed people developed antibodies to bird flu, which would signal an earlier infection. The Atlanta-based public health agency expects to have results from these tests in mid-to-late October, according to Demetre Daskalakis, the director of the CDC’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases. The agency said it’s updating its tests to limit false positives.
