Maryland fails to seduce Novartis

12/07/2006 - Maryland is no longer in the running for a $500m (€392m) vaccine manufacturing plant Novartis is seeking to build in the US, as speculation about which state will host America’s first cell culture-derived influenza vaccine plant is reaching fever pitch.

The state had been in the running with North Carolina and Georgia for the Swiss company's plant, offering incentives to convince Novartis to make the investment, according to the Baltimore Business Journal.
But Aris Melissaratos, Maryland's secretary of the Department of Business and Economic Development, has now been reported by the Washington Business Journal as saying that other states were willing to give away free land and so Maryland couldn't compete with that incentive given this region's high real estate prices.

Asked by In-PharmaTechnologist.com what criteria the drugmaker is using for the selection, a Novartis spokeswoman cited the availability of an educated workforce and the proximity to other company locations as key requirements.

The facility has attracted great interest because it will be the first US-based vaccine manufacturing facility using biotechnology cell cultures rather than chicken eggs for primary production.

Current egg-derived vaccines production requires several months of logistics for ordering and receiving eggs, so this lead time can hinder the response to unanticipated demands such as the discovery of pandemic strains, production failures and seasonal influenza virus strain changes.

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vaccine manufacturing