Chiron Gears Up for Bird Flu Fight; Executive Says Speke Plant Ready for 24-Hour Working

By TONY McDONOUGH Deputy Business Editor

CHIRON’S Liverpool vaccine factory is gearing up to produce vaccine round the clock in the event of a UK bird flu pandemic, it was revealed last night.

A senior company executive warned that such an outbreak could last 18 months or more, putting millions of people at risk.

Dan Soland, US-based president of Chiron’s vaccines division, said on a visit to the Speke plant yesterday that it would switch to "24/7" production if the deadly H5N1 strain were to mutate into a human form.

Liverpool’s role in combating that would be "critical", he added.

Yesterday, it was confirmed bird flu had claimed what is believed to be its 98th human victim, a 12-year-old girl in Indonesia. She had been in direct contact with infected poultry.

The virus is now known to have killed birds in more than 30 countries in the Middle East, Asia, Europe and Africa.

Cases have been confirmed in France and experts believe it is only a matter of time before it turns up in the UK.

Governments are on high alert in case the virus mutates into a form transmissible between humans, potentially killing millions of people around the world.

Both the UK and US governments have signed contracts with Chiron to supply a vaccine that it is hoped would offer some protection for people against the virus.

However, a specific vaccine against a human strain of the disease could not be produced until such a strain appears.

The Speke plant employs around 700 people making conventional flu vaccines and the H5N1 vaccines. The facilities and expertise at the site mean it is right on the front line in the fight to conquer bird flu.

Mr Soland said: "There is a belief that it is not a matter of if, but when, the virus mutates. If a pandemic were to occur the ability of this plant to produce vaccines will be critical.

"Any pandemic could last just a few months or it could last 18 months or more, and could even go through further mutations."

The factory has only just recovered from a contamination crisis which led to having its licence to produce vaccines temporarily withdrawn in October 2004.

A shipment of around 40m vaccines made in Speke and bound for the US had to be scrapped, costing the company pounds 150m in lost revenues.

The licence was restored last year following remediation efforts but was only able to produce around 14m vaccines for the current flu season.

For the 2006/07 flu season Chiron aims to get that back up to 40m.

Mr Soland added: "We are very proud of the efforts made by the employees here during the past year and the wider community in Liverpool should be proud of the work that is being carried out here."

Avain flu has spread to 14 countries in the past month.