Chiron To Get $62.5Mln Flu Contract >CHIR
By Jennifer Corbett Dooren
DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
WASHINGTON (Dow Jones)--U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Michael Leavitt said Thursday
Chiron Corp. (CHIR) would be awarded a $62.5 million contract for vaccine to protect humans against
the H5N1 avian influenza strain.
Leavitt made the announcement during a speech at the National Press Club about U.S. efforts to
prepare for a flu pandemic.
In a statement, Chiron said it would produce a bulk stockpile of H5N1 influenza vaccine, which the
company will produce at its Liverpool, England, manufacturing facility. The vaccine would be delivered
sometime next year for placement in the national vaccine stockpile. Sanofi-Aventis (SNY) has
previously been awarded a $100 million contract to produce a vaccine based on the H5N1 virus into the
same stockpile. The U.S. is hoping to accumulate at least 20 million doses of avian flu vaccine in the
event the virus begins to quickly spread among humans.
Chiron, based in Emeryville, Calif., said the production of the H5N1 stockpile vaccine would not
affect production of Fluvirin. The British manufacturing plant was shut last year by health
authorities over contamination problems, which kept Chiron from shipping any of its annual flu
vaccine. The plant was reopened earlier this year but still delayed this year's production of
Fluvirin. Chiron has had to cut back its estimates of how much Fluvirin it could supply the U.S. for
the current flu season.
Health experts are concerned that the H5N1 virus responsible for avian flu could mutate and begin
rapidly spreading among humans. Leavitt said he was concerned because the H5N1 virus looks like the
deadly 1918 Spanish flu that killed about 40 million worldwide. Flu pandemics in 1957 and 1968 were
less severe and the virus appeared milder, he said. However, Leavitt said there's no evidence yet that
the H5N1 strain can spread among humans.
Chiron announced earlier this week that it was conducting additional studies of a cell-based flu
vaccine, which differs from the current egg-based method that requires the use of chicken eggs, which
can limit the amount of production. The cells that are used to grow the investigational flu vaccine
were originally derived from cells in dog kidneys in the 1960s. The lines, however, continue to exist
and new ones can be grown in the lab. A cell-based manufacturing method could be used for seasonal
influenza vaccines as well as a vaccine to protect against influenza strains that might cause a
pandemic. Pandemic influenza occurs when a new virus emerges that humans have no natural immunity to
and one that can spread easily among humans.
Leavitt said using a cell-based vaccine production method "is a huge breakthrough in public
health."
The H5N1 flu virus, or the avian flu, has killed millions of birds in Asia and has recently spread
to some countries in Europe. It has infected 121 people and killed 62 in Southeast Asia, but the human
cases have been linked to those who have had contact with infected birds.
Leavitt said he believed that avian flu would keep spreading among birds and other animals.
However, he said no one can predict if and when the virus would start spreading among humans. "If this
virus doesn't make it, another will," he said.
Chiron said it would also provide an H5N1 avian influenza vaccine candidate for a study by the
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, part of the National Institutes of Health later
this year. NIH is currently conducting studies with the Sanofi H5N1 DJ UPDATE: Chiron To Get $62.5Mln Flu Contract >CHIR
(Gives new details on Chiron contract in first and third paragraphs.)
By Jennifer Corbett Dooren
Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
WASHINGTON (Dow Jones)--U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Michael Leavitt said Thursday
Chiron Corp. (CHIR) would be awarded a $62.5 million contract for vaccine to protect humans against
the H5N1 avian influenza strain.
Leavitt made the announcement during a speech at the National Press Club about U.S. efforts to
prepare for a flu pandemic.
In a statement, Chiron said it would produce a bulk stockpile of H5N1 influenza vaccine, which the
company will produce at its Liverpool, England, manufacturing facility. The vaccine would be delivered
sometime next year for placement in the national vaccine stockpile. Sanofi-Aventis (SNY) has
previously been awarded a $100 million contract to produce a vaccine based on the H5N1 virus into the
same stockpile. The U.S. is hoping to accumulate at least 20 million doses of avian flu vaccine in the
event the virus begins to quickly spread among humans.
Chiron, based in Emeryville, Calif., said the production of the H5N1 stockpile vaccine would not
affect production of Fluvirin. The British manufacturing plant was shut last year by health
authorities over contamination problems, which kept Chiron from shipping any of its annual flu
vaccine. The plant was reopened earlier this year but still delayed this year's production of
Fluvirin. Chiron has had to cut back its estimates of how much Fluvirin it could supply the U.S. for
the current flu season.
Health experts are concerned that the H5N1 virus responsible for avian flu could mutate and begin
rapidly spreading among humans. Leavitt said he was concerned because the H5N1 virus looks like the
deadly 1918 Spanish flu that killed about 40 million worldwide. Flu pandemics in 1957 and 1968 were
less severe and the virus appeared milder, he said. However, Leavitt said there's no evidence yet that
the H5N1 strain can spread among humans.
Chiron announced earlier this week that it was conducting additional studies of a cell-based flu
vaccine, which differs from the current egg-based method that requires the use of chicken eggs, which
can limit the amount of production. The cells that are used to grow the investigational flu vaccine
were originally derived from cells in dog kidneys in the 1960s. The lines, however, continue to exist
and new ones can be grown in the lab. A cell-based manufacturing method could be used for seasonal
influenza vaccines as well as a vaccine to protect against influenza strains that might cause a
pandemic. Pandemic influenza occurs when a new virus emerges that humans have no natural immunity to
and one that can spread easily among humans.
Leavitt said using a cell-based vaccine production method "is a huge breakthrough in public
health."
The H5N1 flu virus, or the avian flu, has killed millions of birds in Asia and has recently spread
to some countries in Europe. It has infected 121 people and killed 62 in Southeast Asia, but the human
cases have been linked to those who have had contact with infected birds.
Leavitt said he believed that avian flu would keep spreading among birds and other animals.
However, he said no one can predict if and when the virus would start spreading among humans. "If this
virus doesn't make it, another will," he said.
Chiron said it would also provide an H5N1 avian influenza vaccine candidate for a study by the
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, part of the National Institutes of Health later
this year. NIH is currently conducting studies with the Sanofi H5N1 vaccine. |
