Drugs giant to unveil bird flu vaccine plans
GlaxoSmithKline is set to announce this week that it could produce millions of doses of vaccine within four months of the declaration of a bird flu pandemic, it was reported today.
It is understood the drugs giant could take up to a month to form the strain of virus needed to create a vaccine, and a further three to four months to make it available.
Glaxo will make the announcement on Thursday when it posts results for the third quarter of its financial year, according to the Sunday Times.
Plans to vaccinate everyone in the UK against pandemic flu once a potentially-fatal strain emerges were announced by the Government last week, although a vaccine cannot be created until the exact strain is known.
The Government is inviting vaccine manufacturers to tender for “sleeping contracts”, which would mean they had to build up capacity to meet demand once the strain is identified.
Chief Medical Officer Sir Liam Donaldson said last week that 120 million doses - the equivalent of two per person – would be needed to cover the UK population.
Glaxo already makes a drug that could be used to treat the symptoms of bird flu, similar to Swiss firm Roche’s treatment. However, Glaxo faces challenges in stepping up production of Relenza, which is an inhaled medicine, making it harder to license out the manufacturing to other firms.
The company recently invested around £1.13bn in expanding its vaccine manufacturing.
Investors will be looking for positive sales growth from existing drugs when Glaxo updates the market this week. The firm has been supported recently by a dozen products reaching the final stages of clinical trials.
But copycat versions of its Paxil and Epivir drugs are likely to have eaten into its profits, with stockbroker Charles Stanley anticipating a figure of £1.45bn for the three months to September 30, compared with £1.5bn in the same period last year.
Rival AstraZeneca is also set to report on its third quarter this week.
