Crucell N.V. has announced the award from UNICEF of an additional $110 million to supply its pediatric vaccine Quinvaxem to the developing world.
Pediatric vaccination plays an important role in contributing to achieving the Millennium Development Goals set by the United Nations, in particular the target of reducing under-five mortality rate by two-thirds between 1990 and 2015.
“We are proud to be able to deliver significant amount of additional vaccine orders at short notice,” said Ronald Brus, Crucell’s Chief Executive Officer. “The capacity and reliability of Crucell’s manufacturing and logistical systems allows us to deliver high quality and safe vaccines to protect young children from life threatening diseases in the world’s developing countries. As a responsible and reliable partner, we thus contribute to the success of the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation (GAVI Alliance) in accelerating access to these vaccines across the globe.”
From 2006-2009 as part of the Extended Program for Immunization, over 130 million doses of Quinvaxem have been delivered to more than 50 countries. Crucell has been increasing its production capacity over the last few years in order to meet the growing demand for paediatric vaccines from the developing world.
Quinvaxem is the only fully liquid pentavalent DTwP-HepB-Hib vaccine that is free from the preservative thiomersal. It is an optimal solution for protection against five potentially deadly childhood diseases: diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, Haemoplilus influenza type b infection and hepatitis B. Quinvaxem@is ready for use without further preparation steps by healthcare workers in the field, which offers major healthcare advantages for these countries with a challenging infrastructure and hygiene problems.
This latest order brings the overall value of tenders awarded to Crucell for the period of 2010-2012 to $410 million. This is in addition to the $500 million obtained over the tender period 2007-2009. They bring the total value of contracts awarded since the launch of Quinvaxem at the end of 2006 to $910 million. During the first tender round in 2006, Crucell was initially awarded $230 million (December 2006) and received additional incremental awards of $130 million and $140 million in May and September 2008, respectively.
