Pre-Booking for Flublok® Influenza Vaccine Now Available from Cardinal Health and McKesson

MERIDEN, Conn., Feb. 24, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Protein Sciences Corporation  announced today it has expanded distribution options for its revolutionary Flublok influenza vaccine and that pre-booking for the 2015-16 influenza season is underway.  Cardinal Health and McKesson have been added as new Flublok distributors joining FFF Enterprises, ASD Healthcare and Besse Medical.  Together this broad array of distributors makes Flublok more widely available to healthcare professionals across the United States. 

"Accessibility to Flublok by healthcare professionals and consumers has been limited in previous seasons," said Manon Cox, President and CEO of Protein Sciences.  "We are committed to making the vaccine easier to access, and our first step is to create multiple options for healthcare professionals to make Flublok available to their patients."

Healthcare professionals wishing to pre-order Flublok should contact one of the following distributors:

• FFF Enterprises: 800-843-7477 www.myfluvaccine.com
• ASD Healthcare: 866-281-4FLU www.asdhealthcare.com
• Besse Medical: 800-543-2111 www.besse.com
• Cardinal Health: 866-677-4844 http://www.cardinal.com/us/en/SPD/Ordering
• McKesson: 877-MCK-4FLU mms.mckesson.com

Flublok is fully reimbursed by most insurance companies, including Medicare.  Healthcare professionals should use the Flublok-specific CPT code 90673 to ensure compensation occurs at an appropriate rate.

For more information about Flublok, please visit www.flublok.com.

About Protein Sciences
Protein Sciences specializes in vaccine development and protein production.  Our mission is our inspiration: to save lives and improve health through the creation of innovative vaccines and biopharmaceuticals.     

Flublok, the world's first recombinant protein-based vaccine for the prevention of seasonal influenza disease, was approved by FDA in January 2013.  Flublok is the only flu vaccine made in a 100% egg-free system using modern cell culture technology, making it unnecessary to use an infectious influenza virus or antibiotics in manufacturing.  Flublok is highly purified and does not contain any preservatives (e.g., thimerosal, a mercury derivative), egg proteins, gelatin or latex.  In addition, Flublok contains three times more antigen than traditional flu vaccines (3x45mcg hemagglutinin protein versus 3x15mcg hemagglutinin protein)*.   Flublok is a perfect copy of the virus coat and is not subject to the egg-adapted mutations associated with low vaccine effectiveness (see Skowronski et al. (2014) PLOS ONE 9(3), e92153).

Healthcare professionals can order Flublok for the 2014/15 season by contacting FFF Enterprises at 800-843-7477.

Learn more at www.proteinsciences.com and www.flublok.com.

Flublok Safety Information
Flublok is approved for people 18 and older to prevent influenza disease.  The most common side effect from Flublok is pain at the site of injection. Headache, fatigue or muscle ache may occur.

Tell the doctor if you have ever experienced Guillain-Barré syndrome (severe muscle weakness) or have had a severe allergic reaction to any component of Flublok vaccine.

Vaccination with Flublok may not protect all individuals. Clinical effectiveness in adults 50 and older is based on the immune response elicited by Flublok and not on demonstration of decreased influenza disease. 

Please see the complete Package Insert available at www.flublok.com or call 203-686-0800 for more information.

*Flublok demonstrated a higher antibody response to the A strains during 2 clinical trials in adults ≥50 years old.  The B strain antibody response was comparable to traditional trivalent vaccines.

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SOURCE Protein Sciences Corporation

Related Links

http://www.proteinsciences.com