“CSL Seqirus supports the WHO’s recommendation to provide trivalent seasonal influenza vaccines to Canada for the 2025/26 upcoming season,” said Gillian Stafford, Country Head Commercial Operations, CSL Seqirus Canada. FLUAD® (influenza vaccine, surface antigen, inactivated, adjuvanted with MF59C.1) will continue to be available in a trivalent formulation that excludes the B/Yamagata antigen.3 As for FLUCELVAX® (influenza vaccine, surface antigen, inactivated, prepared in cell cultures), Health Canada has recently approved the trivalent formulation in December 2024.4
The WHO recommendation was grounded in data from their global influenza response and surveillance system, which detected a decline in B/Yamagata circulation before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and no further circulation of B/Yamagata lineage viruses since March of 2020.2
"This strain consistency across hemispheres will support both speed and efficiency, as CSL Seqirus manufactures trivalent vaccines for other countries,” said Stafford.
Across the world, CSL Seqirus is collaborating with regulatory bodies and public health authorities on an appropriate transition timeline for each country that aims to ensure a smooth transition, increase vaccine confidence and help to improve immunization rates.
About Seasonal Influenza
Influenza is a frequently occurring, contagious seasonal respiratory disease that may cause severe illness and life-threatening complications in some people.5 Influenza can lead to clinical symptoms varying from mild to moderate respiratory illness to severe complications, hospitalization and in some cases, death.5 Because transmission of influenza viruses to others may occur before symptoms develop and up to 5 to 7 days after becoming sick, the disease can be easily transmitted to others. 5 Influenza causes an average of 12,200 hospitalizations and approximately 3,500 deaths each year in Canada. 6 The National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI) recommends that influenza vaccine should be offered annually to anyone 6 months of age and older who does not have a contraindication to the vaccine. 6 Since it takes about two weeks after vaccination for antibodies to develop in the body and help protect against influenza virus infection, it is recommended that people get vaccinated before influenza begins spreading in their community. 7 The NACI recommends that people get vaccinated as soon as feasible after the vaccines become available in the fall. 6
About CSL Seqirus
CSL Seqirus is part of CSL (ASX:CSL). As one of the largest influenza vaccine providers in the world, CSL Seqirus is a major contributor to the prevention of influenza globally and a transcontinental partner in pandemic preparedness. With state-of-the-art production facilities in the U.S., the U.K. and Australia, CSL Seqirus utilizes egg, cell and adjuvant technologies to offer a broad portfolio of differentiated influenza vaccines in more than 20 countries around the world.
For more information about CSL Seqirus, visit CSL.com.
About CSL
CSL (ASX:CSL) (USOTC:CSLLY) is a global biotechnology company with a dynamic portfolio of lifesaving medicines, including those that treat hemophilia and immune deficiencies, vaccines to prevent influenza, and therapies in iron deficiency and nephrology. Since our start in 1916, we have been driven by our promise to save lives using the latest technologies. Today, CSL – including our three businesses: CSL Behring, CSL Seqirus and CSL Vifor – provides lifesaving products to patients in more than 100 countries and employs 32,000 people. Our unique combination of commercial strength, R&D focus and operational excellence enables us to identify, develop and deliver innovations so our patients can live life to the fullest. For inspiring stories about the promise of biotechnology, visit CSL.com/we-are-csl/vita-original-stories and follow us on x.com/CSL.
For more information about CSL, visit www.CSL.com.
Intended Audience
This press release is issued from CSL Seqirus in Montreal, Quebec, Canada and is intended to provide information about our global business. Please be aware that information relating to the approval status and labels of approved CSL Seqirus products may vary from country to country. Please consult your local regulatory authority on the approval status of CSL Seqirus products
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release may contain forward-looking statements, including statements regarding future results, performance or achievements. These statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause our actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performances or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. These statements reflect our current views with respect to future events and are based on assumptions and subject to risks and uncertainties. Given these uncertainties, you should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements.
MEDIA CONTACT
Tiffany Cody
+1 (908) 370-1863
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REFERENCES
- National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI) Addendum to the NACI Statement on Seasonal Influenza Vaccine for 2024-2025 – Transition from Quadrivalent to Trivalent Influenza Vaccines.
- World Health Organization. Recommended composition of influenza virus vaccines for use in the 2024 southern hemisphere influenza season
- FLUAD® Product Monograph.
- FLUCELVAX® Product Monograph.
- CDC. Key Facts about Influenza. Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/flu/about/keyfacts.htm. Accessed October 2024.
- Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI). Statement on Seasonal Influenza Vaccine for 2024–2025. Accessed April 2024.
- CDC. Who Needs a Flu Vaccine and When. Retrieved from: https://www.cdc.gov/flu/prevent/vaccinations.htm. Accessed October 2024.