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AstraZeneca Cashes In On Global Swine Flu Windfall

August 31, 2009 – 11:45 am

MedImmune is putting its FluMist nasal spray technology to the test against swine flu. FluMist, which got off to a shaky start in the U.S., brought in only $104 million last year, a fraction of what the big global manufacturers have been able to earn with their flu shots. But all those naysayers who scorned the terms of the MedImmune buyout in the face of such weak performance could well be silenced by the rewards available when a pandemic hits. AstraZeneca plans to make 200 million doses of swine flu vaccine by next spring.

By H. Sandra Chevalier-Batik | Posted in Influenza A Virus H1N1 Strain | Comments (0)

H1N1 Trial Researchers Fielding Calls From Thousands of Volunteers

July 30, 2009 – 9:41 am

Fears about swine flu have spurred more than 3,000 people so far to volunteer to take part in upcoming clinical trials of a new vaccine. That’s already more than the number scientists will need at eight different sites around the U.S. “We don’t generally ever get a response like this,” Dr. Lisa Jackson, the principal researcher in charge of the clinical trials being readied at Seattle-based Group Health Cooperative, which fielded more than a thousand calls from people in two days.

By H. Sandra Chevalier-Batik | Posted in Influenza A Virus H1N1 Strain | Comments (0)

Health and Human Services Reports 2009 H1N1Vaccine Development Activities

July 3, 2009 – 7:19 am

Since 2004, HHS has contracted with manufacturers that currently hold U.S. licenses for flu vaccine as part of the National Strategy for Pandemic Influenza. In May 2009, HHS issued new orders on these contracts to produce a bulk supply of vaccine antigen and adjuvant and to produce pilot (also called investigational) lots of a 2009 H1N1 vaccine.

By H. Sandra Chevalier-Batik | Posted in Influenza A Virus H1N1 Strain | Comments (0)