Vaccine maker Adimmune Corp (國光生技) on Monday gave an optimistic outlook on sales for this year on expectations of stronger overseas demand for its quadrivalent flu vaccine.
The company said that Flublok, a flu vaccine developed with US-based drug maker Protein Science Corp, has been well received in the US market since its launch last year, and that its distribution partners have increased their orders in anticipation of rising demand.
Adimmune said that since the acquisition of Protein Science by the French multinational pharmaceutical company Sanofi SA in August last year, its new partner has also stepped up distribution and marketing efforts for the vaccine.
Sanofi was encouraged by Flublok’s effectiveness, Adimmune said, adding that the vaccine is manufactured without using eggs to minimize the risk of vaccine resistance as the flu virus mutates.
By contrast, a worse-than-expected outbreak in North America this flu season has diminished physicians’ confidence in competing vaccines, Adimmune said.
The company is ready to meet procurement demands by the WHO and Taiwan’s National Health Insurance Administration, Adimmune said.
It also expects to gain approval to market its flu vaccine to younger people aged 3 to 17.
Meanwhile, the company is set to tap into the veterinary vaccines market through its 51 percent-owned subsidiary, Animmune.
Animmune has inked technology transfer and joint development agreements to partner with the Agricultural Technology Research Institute (農科院) to bring new multivalent swine vaccines to the market by 2022.
At present, farmers have to administer different types of vaccines against porcine circovirus, swine pneumonia and porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus, Adimmune said.
That is a considerable burden on farmers who are raising an estimated 10 million pigs for slaughter at the age of six months.
The new venture aims to develop multivalent vaccines that would eventually tackle two or three of the common infectious diseases, Adimmune said, adding that there are currently no available multivalent in the local market.
The company is planning to introduce its upcoming pig vaccines in Vietnam, the Philippines and Thailand, but not China, because of its protectionist policies.
Adimmune reported a net loss of NT$457 million (US$15.6 million), or loss per share of NT$1.95, in the first nine months of last year.
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