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Swine Flu Vaccine Moves Into Clinical Testing

Posted on: Friday, 12 June 2009, 10:35 CDT

Swiss pharmaceutical giant Novartis has completed the first batch of swine flu vaccine for pre-clinical trials just a day after the World Health Organization declared a swine flu pandemic.

The company said it aims to make a version available in the fall.

WHO figures show that swine flu has so far infected almost 30,000 people in 74 countries and claimed 145 lives since it was first detected in Mexico in April.

Novartis released a statement saying the company had successfully completed the production of the first batch of influenza A(H1N1) vaccine, several weeks ahead of expectations.

It hopes to start the trials in July and gain a license soon after, as more than 30 governments had already asked for A(H1N1) virus "vaccine ingredients".

On Thursday, the UN health agency raised its global alert to a maximum six after experts agreed that the geographical spread of swine flu had reached pandemic status.

However, the declaration of a "moderate" pandemic should not spark panic and did not mean the A(H1N1) death toll would rise sharply, according to WHO Director General Margaret Chan.

“The world is moving into the early days of its first influenza pandemic in the 21st century," she added.

Once the production of seasonal flu vaccine ends, the WHO said it would ask drug-makers to quickly prepare to produce swine flu vaccines.

The Mexican government announced on Thursday it increased the country's death toll to 109 with 6,294 A(H1N1) infections. Health authorities in the United States reported 27 deaths and 13,217 cases.

The U.S. government sent Novartis $289 million for the development of the vaccine.

Although Australian officials stressed extreme measures are unlikely, it was considering raising its national flu alert and adopting powers to cancel sports events, restrict travel and even shut national borders.

Australia, which currently has 1,307 confirmed cases including four in intensive care, had prepared well but faced problems because of the number of people who travel abroad, according to Prime Minister Kevin Rudd.

Authorities in Hong Kong closed all primary schools after a group of children became the Chinese city's first "cluster" of cases. Meanwhile, the New Zealand government warned that more than one million people in the country could be infected over two years.

In Canada, WHO acting assistant director-general Keiji Fukuda raised concerns over "a disproportionate number of serious cases" occurring in Canada's aboriginal communities.

Novartis used cell-based technology to produce the vaccine, a faster method than the traditional technology that uses eggs.

The company hopes to gain licensure for the vaccine in the fall of 2009, it said.

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On the Net:

• Novartis
• WHO

Source: redOrbit Staff & Wire Reports

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