$ 1b for vaccine factory

Facility to ‘ guard against future threats’, create 520 construction jobs

VACCINES for the flu, future pandemics and antivenom for deadly snake and spider bites will be mass produced in Australia in a new $ 1 billion stateof- the- art facility.

Construction on the new hitech vaccine plant will begin in Melbourne next year, guaranteeing Australia will be able to locally produce lifesaving drugs until at least 2036.

Under the agreement between the federal government and pharmaceutical company Seqirus, Australia would have the largest influenza vaccine facility in the Southern Hemisphere. Seqirus, which is parent company to CSL Ltd, will invest $ 800m in the project, creating 520 construction jobs from 2021.

CSL is currently contracted to produce both the Oxford University and University of Queensland COVID- 19 vaccine candidates in Australia.

An ongoing deal with the federal government was already due to expire in 2024, but rather than renew an agreement using CSL’s ageing infrastructure, a deal for a new plant has been struck.

In the event of a future flu pandemic, the new facility could produce enough emergency vaccine for every Australian in just six weeks.

Seqirus is also the only company in the world that makes lifesaving antivenom products against 11 poisonous Australian creatures including tiger, black and brown snakes, red back and funnel- web spiders, stone fish, box jellyfish, taipans and death adders.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the agreement gave Australia “long term sovereign medical capabilities” so the nation could produce a vaccine as needed.

“Keeping Australians safe is my number one priority and while we are rightly focused on both the health and economic challenges of COVID- 19, we must also guard against future threats,” he said.