Bilthoven Biologicals opens Pandemic Preparedness Vaccine Facilities

Reason for developing facilities

The COVID-19 pandemic demonstrated the need for coordinated action at European Union level to respond to health emergencies in the future. Although effective vaccines against COVID-19 could be developed and approved relatively quickly during the pandemic, available vaccine production capacity, especially in the EU territory, was insufficient to meet European demand.

Opening Pandemic Preparedness facilities

With the opening of these facilities, Europe is from now on better prepared for possible future pandemics. The main advantage is that sufficient and agile production capacity remains operational during the preparedness phase, the period between public health emergencies. This ensures that sufficient production capacity is available in the initial phase of an emergency.

The new state-of-the-art facilities have been approved by the European Commission’s EU FAB and are integrated into BBio’s existing end-to-end vaccine operations. They have the capacity to produce more than 300 million doses annually during public health emergencies.

The opening was attended by Laurent Muschel, director-general of HERA at the European Commission and Adar Poonawalla, CEO of the Serum Institute of India, among others.

During the opening ceremony, Laurent Muschel emphasized the importance of such facilities in preparing for future pandemics. He noted that the COVID-19 pandemic highlighted vulnerabilities in the healthcare system, which “ever-warm” production capacity will help address. To symbolize the spirit of collaboration that led to the success of this project, attendees participated in assembling a puzzle. The final pieces were placed by Mr. Adar Poonawalla, Laurent Muschel, Hans Schikan (former Special Envoy for Vaccines), and Mr. Jurgen Kwik (CEO of Bilthoven Biologicals).

The recently opened pandemic facilities, including a multiproduct viral vector vaccine production plant and a filling line, were constructed in just 12 months in close collaboration with the Serum Institute of India, BBio’s sister company within the Cyrus Poonawalla Group.

These facilities will enable partnerships with other vaccine producers, keeping production capacity ready even during periods without a pandemic. This will improve vaccine development and production in Europe and strengthen the continent’s independence to respond to future pandemics.

For more information on the opening of the Pandemic Preparedness facilities, Bilthoven Biologicals and Serum Institute of India, see the press release.