OREANDA-NEWS. Valneva SE, a leading pure play vaccine company, today announced the signing of an agreement with Seqirus, the second largest flu company in the world, for the marketing & distribution of Seqirus' seasonal flu vaccines Sandovac® and Fluad® in the Austrian market.

Seqirus is the global company created in July 2015 from the combined strength and expertise of bioCSL Inc. and the influenza vaccine business formerly owned by Novartis AG.

Under the terms of the agreement, Valneva will start distributing the Sandovac® and Fluad® vaccines to the Austrian market at the beginning of the 2016-2017 flu season.

Yearly influenza epidemics are a serious public health problem worldwide contributing directly or indirectly to the four leading causes of global mortality at rates that are highest in older adults. Austria went through a flu outbreak in the 2015-2016 flu season with more than 10.000 flu cases reported per week for Vienna only1.

The Sandovac® vaccine is licensed in Europe for the prevention of influenza infections in individuals 6 months of age and older while the Fluad® vaccine is approved for active immunization against influenza disease for use in persons 65 years of age and older in more than 30 countries.

Thomas Lingelbach, President and CEO, and Franck Grimaud, Deputy CEO of Valneva, commented, "Seqirus is a major contributor to the prevention and control of influenza globally and we are very pleased to partner with them for the marketing and distribution of their flu vaccines in Austria. This agreement supports our strategy to leverage our sales and marketing infrastructure and expand our commercial footprint worldwide."

Valneva, which established its own global commercial network in 2015, expects to sign additional agreements for the marketing and distribution of other third-party vaccines.

About Valneva SE

Valneva is a fully integrated vaccine company that specializes in the development, manufacture and commercialization of innovative vaccines with a mission to protect people from infectious diseases through preventative medicine.

The Company seeks financial returns through focused R&D investments in promising product candidates and growing financial contributions from commercial products, striving towards financial self-sustainability.