Complain about a product or service

Chiron Gets U.S. Contract to Manufacture Bird Flu Vaccine

October 28, 2005

Bird Flu • Bird Flu Not the Only Animal Disease Threat • Bird Flu Vaccine Trials 'Encouraging' • FDA Frets about Flu Drugs' Side Effects • World Not Ready For Bird Flu • Researchers: Bird Flu Pandemic Inevitable • Bird Flu Scare in Virginia • FDA Issues Flu Vaccine Guidelines • FDA Approves First Bird Flu Vaccine • More Flu Bugs Show Resistance To Anti-Virals • Seasonal Flu Shot Might Offer Some Bird Flu Protection • Experts Concerned about Tamiflu Overuse • Study Finds Much Bird Flu Planning is Misplaced • U.S. Orders More Bird Flu Vaccine • Scientists Identify Genetic Changes That Could Lead to Bird Flu Pandemic • Drug Interaction Can Render Tamiflu Ineffective • New Bird Flu Variant Renews Pandemic Concerns • Researchers Find New Weapon Against Flu Virus • Researchers Test Spreadability of Bird Flu Viruses to Humans • GlaxoSmithKline Claims Bird Flu Breaththrough • Global Corporations Struggle to Plan For Pandemic • Flu Pandemic Is "Inevitable," EU Experts Warn • Bird Flu Virus May Have Mutated In Indonesian Cases • Indonesian Nurse May Have Bird Flu • Study Warns of "Chaos" and "Panic" If Bird Flu Strikes • Investigators Find No Evidence Bird Flu Virus Has Mutated • Scientists Fear Bird Flu Virus May Have Mutated • Airlines Queasy About Quarantining Bird Flu Victims • More ...

Chiron has won a $62 million contract from the U.S. Health and Human Services Department (HHS) to produce millions of doses of vaccine against the H5N1 strain of bird flu, the strain that has caused tens of millions of bird deaths and at least 60 human deaths in Asia.

Sanofi-Aventis won a $100 million contract in September and is expected to deliver its vaccine by the end of this year. Chiron's first batch is expected to ready in the first half of next year.

The vaccine will be a "pre-pandemic" formulation -- described by health officials as a "priming dose" that would, it is hoped, jumpstart an immune response that could then be fine-tuned by a second vaccine.

Chiron and other companies have been working on the vaccine for more than a year, the company said. An announcement from the company said the vaccine would be produced at its Liverpool, England, facility using the company's U.S.-licensed manufacturing process.

GlaxoSmithKline has an H5N1 vaccine under development but does not expect to begin clinical trials until next year. MedImmune, which makes a nasal influenza vaccine, said it is working on a version to fight H5N1.

"We need a vaccine," HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt said in a speech at the National Press Club in Washington.

Chiron and Sanofi also make seasonal flu vaccines for the U.S. market. The seasonal vaccines do not provide protection against H5N1.

U.S. health officials have said they plan to buy enough vaccine for 20 million people and enough antiviral drugs, like Tamiflu, for another 20 million.

Report Your Experience
If you've had a bad experience -- or a good one -- with a consumer product or service, we'd like to hear about it. All complaints are reviewed by class action attorneys and are considered for publication on our site. Knowledge is power! Help spread the word. File your consumer report now.