Glaxo receives Approval for Bird Flu Vaccine

[Johnnie Mesaros]

The LONDON press reports that GlaxoSmithKline has received permission to market a human bird flu vaccine. This is significant because it is the first pharmaceutical to receive a license for pre-pandemic use in all 27-member European Union states. Noteworthy to those of us living in the USA, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has ordered for 27.5 million doses.

Glaxo has spent at least $2 billion developing the vaccine that targets the H5N1 virus. They have already received orders for 8 million doses from Switzerland, enough to cover that country's entire population,in addition to the 27.5 million doses ordered by the U.S., and orders from Finland and other European countries. Glaxo has agreed to donate 50 million doses of the vaccine to the World Health Organization in an attempt to create a pandemic vaccine stockpile for poor countries.

Experts believe H5N1, an influenza virus subtype which has killed at least 241 people worldwide, is the most likely candidate to mutate into a pandemic virus,said
Emmanuel Hanon, vice president of the Influenza Vaccine Franchise at Glaxo.
"This vaccine marks a significant step in the world's ability to cope with an influenza pandemic," said Glaxo Chief Executive Officer Jean-Pierre Garnier. Glaxo has said that its vaccine is effective against these other versions of the virus as well, announcing study results last year showing that that it even reacts against the Indonesian type of H5N1, a genetically different virus. It would not, however be effective against strains such as H5N5 or H5N7

"What we don't know is when the pandemic will come, but we do know that it will come," stated Emmanuel Hanon.