GlaxoSmithKline in talks to develop swine flu vaccine for EuropeansBoston Business Journal - by James Gallagher Triangle Business Journal Print Email Reprints RSS Feeds Add to Del.icio.us Digg This CommentsOther Matching Articles for "relenza" Glaxo seeks new Relenza approval [09/18/2000] GlaxoSmithKline in talks to develop swine flu vaccine for Europeans [05/15/2009] GlaxoSmithKline in talks to develop swine flu vaccine for Europeans [05/15/2009] GlaxoSmithKline in talks to develop swine flu vaccine for Europeans [05/15/2009] GSK to sell U.S. Wellbutrin rights to Biovail for $510M [05/06/2009] > More Search Results GlaxoSmithKline is in talks to develop and provide nearly 128 million doses of a vaccine for the H1N1 influenza to European countries.
The vaccine probably would be developed at the company’s Belgium research facility and produced at several influenza vaccine manufacturing facilities the company has around the world.
GSK (NYSE: GSK) is waiting for a sample of the H1N1 virus to be delivered from the World Health Organization. The company says it will take about six months from that point for the vaccine to be developed.
Following development, GSK would need to receive regulatory approval from European health officials.
Among the nations interested in the vaccine are Great Britain (60 million doses), France (50 million doses), Belgium (12.6 million) and Finland (5.3 million).
GSK also it in talks with U.S. health officials about how it can help with the nation’s response to H1N1 influenza, Alspach says.
The U.K.-based company, which has 4,000 employees at its North American headquarters in Research Triangle Park, also is in the process of boosting production of its flu treatment Relenza. Company official say it will take about 12 weeks to get production ramped up. At that points, the company intends to produce Relenza at a rate of 50 million to 60 million packs a year.
Some of that production will occur at GSK’s Zebulon manufacturing plant, which employs about 1,000 people, a number not expected to change due to the Relenza ramp-up.
Earlier this week Replikins, a biotechnology and health technology company based in Boston, said it developed a vaccine for swine flu that could be produced within seven to 10 days, once it is approved by regulators.
The synthetic vaccine has not yet been tested in humans. Replikins CEO Samuel Bogoch said the company is actively seeking a pharmaceutical or academic partner to conduct clinical trials on the vaccine.
