Baxter said it has completed testing and evaluation of the virus and would submit its H1N1 flu vaccine for approval upon completion of initial manufacturing runs.
NEW YORK - THE race is on among drugmakers to produce a vaccine for the Influenza A (H1N1) virus. Baxter International has said it is in full-scale production of a vaccine that could be ready for commercial use next month.
The announcement came a day after Novartis said it expected a vaccine for the virus, the source of the first flu pandemic in 40 years, to be available by September.
The Baxter and Novartis vaccines were both developed using cell-based technology that could allow for much more rapid production and distribution than traditional vaccines produced using chicken eggs.
The Novartis vaccine will enter clinical trials next month, the Swiss drugmaker said last Friday, a day after the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared a pandemic and warned governments to prepare for a long battle against the virus.
Baxter said it has completed testing and evaluation of the virus and would submit its H1N1 flu vaccine for approval upon completion of initial manufacturing runs.
European drugmakers Novartis, Sanofi-Aventis, GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) and Solvay all obtained the H1N1 flu seed virus in recent weeks and aim to have a vaccine ready ahead of the flu season in the northern hemisphere.
The WHO has estimated vaccine-makers could produce up to 4.9 billion pandemic flu shots a year in a best-case scenario, leaving some of the world's 6.5 billion population unprotected, particularly if more than one injection was needed to gain immunity.
Novartis said first results with the H1N1 wild type strain showed it was quicker to make the vaccine through cell-based rather than through egg-based production, and it had completed its first batch weeks earlier than expected.
Its cell-culture vaccine plant in Marburg, Germany, had the potential to produce millions of doses a week, but it was difficult to predict output capacity for now.
Spokesman Eric Althoff said Novartis should have the vaccine ready in September or October. He was unsure if other companies had completed the first stage of the production process.
GSK said last Friday that it would be able to meet advance purchase commitments for 150 million to 180 million doses, and the 50 million it donated to the WHO for developing countries.
Mr Wayne Pisano, head of vaccines at Sanofi, the world's largest flu vaccine supplier, said last Thursday that his company would 'produce the largest number of doses of vaccine in the shortest timeframe', though it would be four more months before the first supply of bulk concentrate will be ready.
The H1N1 strain has spread widely, with 29,669 infections confirmed in 74 countries to date, including 145 deaths, according to the WHO's latest tally.
Although the strain seems mild at present, health officials are worried that it might return in a more virulent form during the northern hemisphere winter.
