An executive at a Connecticut vaccine manufacturer said it is difficult to consider expanding in the state because the governor's administration won't commit to buying the vaccine for state workers.
Dan Adams, executive chairman of Meriden-based Protein Sciences, which makes the Flublok vaccine, said he was frustrated that Governor Dannel Malloy received a flu shot made by an overseas company. A Malloy spokesman said the West Hartford-Bloomfield Health District administered the vaccine to the governor last Friday, using what was available.
Adams said he is still considering expanding the 100-employee company in Connecticut. He said Catherine Smith, the state's economic development commissioner, has been talking with company executives.
The Record-Journal of Meriden reported earlier Wednesday that Adams said the company was scrapping expansion plans entirely, and halting negotiations to purchase a nearby property.
From the story:
Protein Sciences said the governor’s vaccine is the final straw in a push to get the state to back the company which has received millions in federal dollars to license its cell-based technology in vaccines.
The 100-employee company has a manufacturing facility in Pearl River, New York, but Flublok is made in Meriden. Adams said the company was "really hurt us that the governor blew us off like that."
A spokesman for the state Department of Economic and Community Development didn't return a message Friday.
Ryan King is an intern at WNPR. This report includes information from The Associated Press.