GSK to pilot new vaccine manufacturing method

GSK Australia’s new pilot facility, officially opened today by Assistant Minister for Science Karen Andrews, will use an innovative manufacturing method to produce vaccines on a commercial scale. If successful, it is hoped the new method could help to reduce overall vaccination costs, which could help more children in developing countries access potentially life-saving vaccines.

The facility has been enabled through the expansion of the GSK’s Boronia site, based in Melbourne’s outer-eastern suburbs, with the help of a $1 million grant through the federal government’s Manufacturing Transition Programme. The team at Boronia, working in partnership with Monash University and vaccine experts in Belgium, has developed a groundbreaking way to use blow-fill-seal (BFS) technology to manufacture a vaccine.

At significant volumes, BFS technology is an efficient, cost-effective way to manufacture high-quality, sterile products. In a single process, the technology forms the container, fills it with the sterile liquid and then seals the container to maintain a high assurance of sterility. It is said that no other technology does this with such a small production footprint and without the need for a supply chain of aseptic components.

“Putting a vaccine in BFS containers has the potential to deliver the product in a more compact, robust container, and it has a much smaller carbon footprint compared to the current methodology,” said GSK Australia VP and General Manager Geoff McDonald.

“The opening of the facility… [will enable] the first commercial production of a vaccine delivered using blow-fill-seal technology.”

Federal Member for Aston Alan Tudge added that the expansion of the GSK facility will create local jobs and help fuel the economic growth of the region.

“Boronia is home to a world-leading pharmaceutical manufacturer, and this new facility cements the place of GSK as an important local manufacturing employer,” he said.

“There are over 10,000 people employed in manufacturing in Knox, so investments such as these help secure manufacturing for the future.”