KING OF PRUSSIA, Pa., April 3 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- CSL Biotherapies, one of the world’s leading manufacturers of influenza vaccine, has submitted a Biologics License Application (BLA) to the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Pending approval of that application, CSL Biotherapies will introduce its influenza vaccine to the U.S. marketplace. The company’s BLA requests that the vaccine be approved to immunize people 18 years of age and older. The approved vaccine will be made available in both a single-dose, thimerosal-free, pre-filled syringe and in multi-dose vials to provide choice and convenience to caregivers who administer it.
“Our parent company, CSL Limited, has supplied safe and effective influenza vaccine for more than 40 years,” said Paul Perreault, Executive Vice President of CSL Biotherapies Worldwide Commercial Operations. “By extending our influenza vaccine franchise into more geographies, including the U.S., our goal is to help address a large and growing critical public health need.”
Previous international flu vaccine studies sponsored by CSL Limited, and a clinical trial sponsored by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), form the basis for CSL Biotherapies’ BLA submission.
For the NIH-sponsored study, sites across the United States enrolled 1,359 volunteers in a pivotal, Phase III, randomized, double-blind, placebo- controlled multi-center study. The study evaluated the safety, tolerability and immunogenicity of thimerosal-free and thimerosal-containing formulations of influenza vaccine in healthy adults aged 18 to 64 years. CSL Biotherapies supplied the inactivated influenza vaccine for the study.
About CSL Biotherapies
The U.S. headquarters of CSL Biotherapies are located in King of Prussia, PA. Its parent company, CSL Limited, in Melbourne, Australia, operates one of the world’s largest influenza vaccine facilities for global markets. CSL Biotherapies, which shares its U.S. headquarters with its sister company, CSL Behring, is commercializing influenza vaccine products globally. At CSL Biotherapies, delivering vaccines is our mission, protecting lives our passion. The CSL Group, which also includes CSL Research & Development, CSL Bioplasma, and CSL Behring, has more than 7,000 employees and operates in 26 countries worldwide. For more information, visit us at http://www.cslbiotherapies-us.com, or call 1-888-4FLU-OFF.
Media Contact: Sheila A. Burke Director, Public Relations & Communications Worldwide Commercial Operations CSL Biotherapies 610-290-7403 Sheila.Burke@cslbiotherapies.com Ian Leggat Weber Shandwick 212-445-8265 ileggat@webershandwick.com
CSL Biotherapies
CONTACT: Sheila A. Burke, Director, Public Relations & Communications-Worldwide Commercial Operations of CSL Biotherapies, +1-610-290-7403,Sheila.Burke@cslbiotherapies.com; or Ian Leggat of Weber Shandwick,+1-212-445-8265, ileggat@webershandwick.com, for CSL Biotherapies
Web site: http://www.cslbiotherapies-us.com/
