Progress in Aventis Pasteur expansion means progress against meningitis

A ventis Pasteur is more than halfway through a massive expansion that will result in a doubling of its vaccination production capacity.

A tour of its 276-acre campus in Swiftwater is a 3-year-old's dream of bulldozers, cranes and men wearing tool belts.

One of the impetuses for the expansion push is the growing demand for meningitis vaccine. Meningitis is a rare but devastating infection that typically strikes in colleges, camps and military compounds. It kills 20 percent of its victims and permanently damages another 20 percent, typically with limb loss or brain damage.

Recent legislation passed in about a dozen states — and passed in Pennsylvania this summer — requires colleges to educate incoming students about the dangers of meningitis. Some states require students to sign a waiver if they choose not to get the vaccine.

Aventis Pasteur is the sole U.S. producer of the meningitis vaccine. Because demand outstrips the company's ability to produce it, it is being rationed, Aventis public affairs director Len Lavenda said.

The foundation of the new meningitis vaccine production building is being completed while the building itself awaits transport from Sweden. The two-story building has been completely finished and is being tested for procedural efficacy. It will then be taken apart and brought to Swiftwater, where it will be reconstructed. The target date for completion is early 2003.

"It saves time. The founda-tion can be being built here while the building is completed there," Lavenda said.

Although the growing demand for meningitis vaccine is one of the driving forces behind the expansion, the vaccine itself is one of the company's lesser products. Flu vaccine is far and away the biggest seller. A new flu vaccine for children has been developed and is on the market.

The other major construction project under way is a "research to launch" facility.

It typically takes about 10 years to bring a drug from creation to the marketplace, and employees working on different aspects of research and development are scattered throughout the Aventis campus. Putting them all in one building where they can easily consult and communicate should increase efficiency and speed the process, Lavenda said.

Another building — to house offices — will extend across a parking lot to connect the new research building with the existing administration building.

The expansion, including projects awaiting approval, in the design phase or under construction, costs $270 million.

Copyright © October 13, 2002, Pocono Record
Return to www.poconorecord.com