The main purpose of industrial-scale IIV production is for domestic use and to maintain capacity for influenza pandemic preparedness. Pending industrial-scale IIV production capacity in 2012, the GPO plans to develop and produce seasonal LAIV for public use (see Section click here 5 above). Once the new manufacturing plant is fully operational, the GPO plans to produce 2 million doses of seasonal egg-based trivalent IIV per year to meet local demand, and progressively to

increase production to the maximum annual capacity of 10 million doses. In addition, some pandemic IIV, such as H5N1, will be developed and produced to create a vaccine stockpile for pandemic use. The primary objective of the influenza vaccine project in Thailand is to ensure health security and economic stability at the national, as well as the regional level. Building capacity for self-reliance in a pandemic situation has thus been driven by public health, and not commercial concerns. The strategy of Thailand since 2007 has been to produce enough IIV to cover national seasonal vaccine demand and to be able to convert this IIV production capacity to manufacture monovalent vaccine in the event of a pandemic. Indeed, the production plant designed to produce

up to 10 million doses of trivalent seasonal IIV should be able to produce 30 million doses of monovalent IIV or up to 300–500 million doses of PLAIV per year. A combination of both would be required during a pandemic, as pandemic IIV will be used for high-risk Rapamycin ic50 groups. This is more than enough for Thailand, a country with 64 million people. Thus, Thailand’s capacity can also contribute to meeting regional and global pandemic influenza needs. The GPO will continue to improve and sustain its capacity through comprehensive collaborative programmes and mobilize additional support for the industrial-scale plant. It will also establish effective research and

production management through in-house and external training with partners. next The GPO started this project with no experience in influenza vaccine production or technology partner. Within three years, it has developed the capacity to produce laboratory-scale seasonal IIV and pilot-scale PLAIV. This capacity includes staff knowledge and skills, institutional capacity to manage the development and production of influenza vaccine, and its extensive domestic and international networks, particularly among all essential laboratories within the country, notably at Mahidol University. With the support of a bilateral partner to manufacture seasonal IIV, and its key international partners, the GPO will soon be able to produce both IIV and LAIV at industrial-scale. Strong policy support from the Ministry of Public Health and the National Health Security Office for routine seasonal influenza vaccination in targeted risk groups has also been critical.