GENEVA – Swiss pharmaceutical company Novartis AG said yesterday it has successfully produced a first batch of swine flu vaccine weeks ahead of expectations.
The vaccine was made in cells, rather than grown in eggs as is usually the case with vaccines, the company said.
The announcement comes a day after the World Health Organization declared swine flu a pandemic. WHO says drugmakers will likely have vaccines approved and ready for sale after September.
Swine flu, also known as Influenza A(H1N1), is now formally a pandemic – a declaration by UN health officials that is expected to speed vaccine production and spur government spending to combat the first global flu epidemic in 41 years.
Since it was first detected in late April in Mexico and the US, swine flu has reached 74 countries, infecting nearly 29,000 people. Most who catch the bug have only mild symptoms and don’t need medical treatment.
WHO chief Dr. Margaret Chan made the long-awaited declaration after the UN agency held an emergency meeting with flu experts and said she was moving to phase 6 – the agency’s highest alert level – which means a pandemic is under way.
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