Vaccine maker Seqirus announced plans to break ground early next year on a $600-million influenza vaccine manufacturing facility in Melbourne, Australia.

Capable of producing seasonal and pandemic flu vaccines, the plant will be the only cell-based influenza vaccine manufacturing facility in the Southern Hemisphere, says the company.

Built on a site near the city’s airport, the plant is expected to be operational in mid-2026. Plans for the facility followed an agreement with the Victoria government for onshore manufacturing to supply more than 10 years of influenza pandemic vaccines, anti-venoms and Q-Fever vaccine. The company recently completed a $140-million expansion of a facility in Holly Springs, N.C., that uses a similar technology platform. 

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