MedImmune

MedImmune, LLC was a wholly owned subsidiary of AstraZeneca before February 14, 2019, when it was announced that the MedImmune name and branding would be discontinued in favor of AstraZeneca.^[1][2]

MedImmune was founded in 1988 as Molecular Vaccines, Inc, and was purchased in 2007 for $15.6 billion.^[3] Its main offices were located in Gaithersburg, MD, Cambridge, UK, and Mountain View, CA.^[4]

It produced Synagis, a drug for the prevention of respiratory infections in infants, which accounted for US$ 1.06 billion of its US$ 1.2 billion in revenue for 2005, and FluMist, a nasal spray influenza vaccine introduced in 2004. MedImmune acquired FluMist when it purchased Aviron in 2002 for US$ 1.5 billion. FluMist sales totaled US$ 104 million in 2008, US$ 54.8 million in 2007, and US$ 36.4 million in 2006.^[5]

FluMist was approved for children two years of age and older in 2007, but initially was approved only for healthy people ages 5 to 49, a significant limitation because it eliminated a significant market—young children who find injections objectionable. Sales of FluMist fell short of analysts' expectations for the first two years the drug was sold. FluMist was initially sold in a frozen form, which was difficult for doctors to store.^[6]

MedImmune conducted successful clinical trials for a new generation of FluMist needle-free vaccine, called CAIV-T, which was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 2007, and is now the form offered on the market.