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Sanofi-Aventis Shipping H1N1 Vaccine To US Government Tuesday
By jeremyc | September 29, 2009
Sanofi-Aventis SA’s (SNY) vaccines unit is to deliver its first shipment of swine-flu vaccine to the U.S. government Tuesday, ahead of schedule, a spokeswoman said.
The company cautioned that the shots may not become immediately available for administration because they will have to work their way through government distribution channels.
“It’s a tremendous milestone and one that we’re pleased to reach in a timely manner,” said Donna Cary, spokeswoman for Sanofi Pasteur, the vaccines unit of the Paris-based drug giant.
Last week, the director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the first doses of an H1N1 vaccine should become available by about Oct. 6.
Sanofi has contracted with the U.S. government to supply a total of 75.3 million doses of its H1N1 vaccine. Other manufacturers also have supply contracts with the U.S., including GlaxoSmithKline PLC (GSK) and AstraZeneca PLC (AZN).
Cary said Sanofi’s U.S. contract had called for an initial delivery by Oct. 15. She didn’t specify how many doses were to be shipped Tuesday.
The swine flu, or H1N1 influenza virus, began spreading rapidly earlier this year, and as of last week there had been more than 300,000 laboratory-confirmed cases and 3,917 deaths, in 191 countries and territories, according to the World Health Organization. WHO has declared it a pandemic, and vaccines makers and health officials have been working quickly to make vaccines against the virus available to as many people as possible.
Topics: | H1N1 |
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