Tag:
flu vaccine
Latest Headlines
Latest Headlines
Chiron gets fed OK to ship Fluvirin
Chiron finally received FDA approval to ship its first three lots of flu vaccine. It is the last of the vaccine makers to get the green light to begin supplying vaccine to the market. Chiron has said that it will ship 18 million to 26 million doses this fall after being forced to sit out last flu season after regulators determined that its Liverpool facility had been contaminated.- read this report from the …
Flu vaccines losing ability to ward off disease
In a new study published in the Lancet, flu vaccines appear to be significantly less effective among the elderly than had been believed. One reason for the diminished effect in preventing hospitalizations, researchers concluded, is that seniors' immune systems have been seriously eroded. In another study just out, a class of vaccines called adamantanes has registered a sudden jump in germ resistance.- read this story from the Washington Post for more
DEALS: Novartis angling for Chiron buyout
Novartis angling for Chiron buyout
GSK grabs ID Biomedical for $1.4B
GlaxoSmithKline has struck a deal to buy ID Biomedical in an all-stock deal valued at $1.4 billion. The acquisition gives GSK operations in Canada and the US gearing up to produce 75 million doses per year of fluviral vaccine. GSK officials said the acquisition will help the company prepare for a global flu pandemic. This deal also marks another big step in the shakeout of the world's vaccine makers, with Novartis in hot pursuit of a Chiron acquisition. "GSK has moved quickly over …
Drug makers to supply US with up to 97M doses of flu vaccine
Up to 97 million doses of flu vaccine should be available in the coming season. The bigger supply marks a substantial turnaround from last year, when regulators shut down Chiron's Liverpool facility and cut off half of the nation's vaccine supply. The CDC estimates that Chiron will deliver 18 million to 26 million doses; Sanofi Pasteur will produce 60 million shots; GlaxoSmithKline will ship 8 million doses of its new vaccine; and MedImmune expects to sell 3 million doses of its nasal …
Agency OKs Fluarix, opening spigot of vaccine supplies
The FDA has approved GlaxoSmithKline's Fluarix, opening up a supply of 8 million doses of vaccine for the coming flu season. GSK provided about half that much vaccine last season as the FDA allowed emergency shipments to flow into the US following the sudden closure of Chiron's Liverpool facility. Yesterday, the FDA gave that manufacturing site a green light to start production again, another move likely to insure easy availability of vaccine this year. While Fluarix does not …
Investors bid up Novavax shares on news of vaccine success
Shares of Novavax shot up this morning after the company announced that its experimental vaccine for avian flu protected animals. Investors bid up Novavax shares by 38 percent after learning from a study in Vaccine that the Novavax drug evidently worked by eliciting an immune response without infecting cells. Researchers are studying Novavax technology, which requires shorter lead times than traditional methods for developing vaccines. "Our VLP technology, based on a …
Acambis researching single-shot solution to flu
Shares of the UK's Acambis surged this morning as the drug developer announced it would soon begin human trials on a new flu vaccine that could potentially offer permanent protection against all types of flu. Investors were cheered by the prospect that a successful set of trials could offer global protection against the flu, which each year requires huge sums and massive shipments of drugs that may have no effect on whatever strain of the flu is making the rounds. In addition, Acambis …
Sinovac Biotech gets Chinese license to make flu vaccine
Sinovac Biotech said that China's State Food and Drug Administration (SFDA) issued a production license for Sinovac's proprietary influenza flu vaccine, Anflu. Though the company already had won a new drug certificate from the Chinese government for the vaccine, it required a separate license to start production. The company has established its flu production line, which has a capacity of 2 million doses per year. Sales are expected to begin in the last quarter of 2005.- read …
Chiron curtails vaccine distribution for upcoming flu season
After announcing several days ago that it had run into sterility problems at its German facility responsible for producing the Begrivac flu vaccine, Chiron now says that it won't be able to provide any of that vaccine outside of the US for the upcoming flu season. Chiron says it will look to other products to make up for the shortfall. The move comes soon after Chiron sharply cut its forecasted production of Fluvirono.- read this report from TheStreet.com for more
