WASHINGTON, Aug 24 (Reuters) - U.S. officials should help drug companies speed the supply of swine flu drugs and vaccines, making at least some shots available by mid-September instead of mid-October, White House science advisers said on Monday.
They also urged the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to quickly decide on new, intravenous formulations of flu drugs, including current drugs such as Roche AG's <ROG.VX> Tamiflu and GlaxoSmithKline's <GSK.L> Relenza but also BioCryst Pharmaceuticals' <BCRX.O> experimental drug peramivir, lifting its shares 13 percent to $11.38 in midday trading on Nasdaq.
The President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology said the Department of Health and Human Services should tell manufacturers to begin to "fill and finish" H1N1 flu vaccines right away -- putting them into vials for shipment. "Such a decision would need to be taken almost immediately," the group said in a report.
Most experts believe people will need two doses of the vaccine, delivered at least two weeks apart, to develop full immunity to the new H1N1 flu.
Last week the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said only 45 million doses of the new H1N1 vaccine would be on hand in mid-October, instead of 120 million previously forecast, with 20 million a week due after that.
HHS plans to eventually vaccinate at least 160 million people by December, with pregnant women, healthcare workers, children and young adults at the front of the line.
Five companies make swine flu vaccine for the U.S. market -- AstraZeneca's <AZN.L> MedImmune unit, CSL Ltd <CSL.AX>, GlaxoSmithKline Plc <GSK.L>, Novartis AG <NOVN.VX> and Sanofi-Aventis SA <SASY.PA>.
The Council also recommended a quicker decision on intravenous versions of flu drugs. People who are seriously ill can only be given drugs intravenously. |
