GlaxoSmithKline, Europe's biggest drugmaker, has received approval for the world's first wide-spectrum pre-pandemic vaccine against bird flu, according to media reports Monday.
The approval from the European Medicines Agency (EMEA) makes Prepandrix the first vaccine to receive a license for pre-pandemic use in all 27-member European Union states.
"This drug represents one of the swing factors affecting us in 2008. This is important for the company but it is more important in terms of global health." Said GSK chief executive Jean-Pierre Garnier.
The drugmaker hopes the move will spur fresh stockpile orders from governments around the world.
So far, GSK has received orders for Prepandrix from a handful of governments, including the United States, Switzerland and Finland. Last year, it sold around 200 million U.S. dollars of its pre-pandemic vaccine and bulk antigen.
Prepandrix is intended for use before or in the early stages of a flu pandemic. It triggers an immune response to the H5N1 strain of bird flu, which experts fear may trigger a widespread human flu outbreak threatening millions of people.
However, GSK is just one of several pharmaceutical companies, including Novartis SA and Sanofi Aventis, developing vaccines against H5N1 bird flu.
Experts believe H5N1, which has killed at least 241 people worldwide, is the most likely candidate to mutate into a pandemic virus.
Since late 2003, the virus has been circulating in Asia, Europe and Africa and several distinct H5N1 strains have arisen.
GSK has agreed to donate 50 million doses of the vaccine to the World Health Organization in an attempt to create a pandemic vaccine stockpile for poor countries.
Source: Xinhua/Agencies
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