Hard on the heels of Novartis, Sanofi Pasteur has charged into the clinic with a new swine flu vaccine designed to capture a big chunk of a brand new, multibillion-dollar market. Corporate parent Sanofi-Aventis--one of the world's largest vaccine developers--also said that the company has filed a supplemental license application for the vaccine with the FDA.
Sanofi, Novartis, Australia's CSL and a slate of about 20 vaccine developers have been working virtually around the clock to deliver a swine flu jab in time to begin a global vaccination campaign soon after schools begin their fall semester. Packing children into classrooms as temperatures fall is a sure-fire method to accelerate the spread of a pandemic. The World Health Organization said recently that it expects to see the first vaccines approved in September, making this one of the fastest development programs on record.
Sanofi says the supplemental license application should help fast-track its program, which will test the vaccine in 2,000 U.S. subjects. Investigators plan to use a traditional vaccine as well as a jab that includes an adjuvant to help boost its effectiveness.
- read the story from Reuters
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