BASEL, Switzerland (AP) -- Swiss pharmaceutical giant Novartis AG said Thursday it has secured a $486 million contract to build a new flu vaccine plant in the United States.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services granted the eight-year contract to build and run a vaccine manufacturing site in Holly Springs, North Carolina, Novartis said.
The company said more than 300 people will be employed there by 2012. The plant will be used to develop a new flu vaccine using cell cultures. Existing vaccines are derived from eggs and can take up to nine months to produce.
The plant will serve a double function, producing vaccine to inoculate people from seasonal flu and adding to U.S. government preparedness against an influenza pandemic. In that event, the plant would aim to produce 150 million doses of vaccine within six months.
Shares in Novartis were down 0.38 percent at 52 Swiss francs ($46.55) on the Zurich exchange.