Friday, September 4, 2009

CHINA APPROVES ONE-DOSE LOCALLY MADE H1N1 VACCINE

       Twice as many people can now be vaccinated, says WHO
       China yesterday granted approval to its first homegrown producer Sinovac says is effective after only one does, as the country braces for feared winter outbreak.
       The decision could boost the global fight against type-A (H1N1) influenza, as most experts had assumed that two doses of vaccine per person would be needed to provide adequate protection.
       "The completion of trails for Sinovac's vaccine has shown this vaccine to be very safe," the regulatory agency said in a written statement announcing the decision.
       Hans Troedsson, the outgoing WHO representative in China, said ahead of the decision that a one-dose vaccine would be "very important as it means we can vaccinate twice as many people".
       Zhang said the SFDA was looking at applications from nine other Chinese companies who are developing vaccines against the virus, with decisions expected by mid-September.
       The approval of the Sinovac vaccine came just days after China's health ministry warned of the growing risk of a mass outbreak as hundreds of millions of students went back to school this week with the winter flu season looming.
       "With autumn and winter approaching, the risk of a large-scale outbreak is increasing ... and the possibility of the first death is gradually rising," the ministry said earlier.
       The ministry said China had confirmed 3,981 cases of swine flu as of Wednesday, but no deaths had been reported.
       The World Health Organisation (WHO) says at least 2,185 people have died worldwide after contracting swine flu, now the most prevalent strain of influenza. It has been detected in nearly every country in the world.
       The UN health body has warned of a possible vaccine shortage as winter, and the regular flu season, approaches in the northern hemisphere. "We know that supplies will be extremely limited for some months to come," WHO chief Margaret Chan said last month.
       Countries in the northern hemisphere have so far ordered more than one billion doses of swine-flu vaccine, according to the WHO.
       More than two dozen pharm aceutical companies around the world are racing to test, produce and ship vaccines before the global pandemic enters an expected second wave.
       Five of those firms are expected to account for more than 80 per cent of production: Sanofi-Pasteurin France, AstraZeneca and GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) in Britain, Baxter in the United States, and the Swiss group Novartis.
       But Sinovac announced after clinical trials in mid-August that its one-dose formula had proven effective, a major advantage as the vaccine would be easier to administer and available to more people.
       "We have not found any negative side-effects ... it is safe and reliable," Sinovac president Yin Weidong said in a recent interview at the company's Beijing headquarters.
       Swiss pharmaceutical giant Novartis said yesterday that its clinical trial of its vaccine had shown "encouraging" results and suggested that one dose could suffice.
       Andrin Oswald, chief executive of Novartis Vaccines and Diagnostics, added that "while two doses seem to provide better protection, one dose of Novartis's Celtura vaccine may be sufficient to protect adults".
       The Chinese government plans to vaccinate 65 million people before year end.
       Britain and France received their first batches of swine flu vaccine in late August.

No comments:

Post a Comment