The first results are expected current October

The laboratories are moving forward in the development of a vaccine against influenza A (H1N1). After having started clinical testing in the United States on 6 August, Sanofi-Pasteur, the vaccines division of Sanofi-Aventis, should throw this week in Europe, France and Finland more precisely. The first results are expected current October. As other manufacturers of vaccines, French, world number one in the sector, seeks to win the race to the first placing on the market. Race between laboratories, but also race against time, to come up with a vaccine before that the pandemic is propagated.

The process involves different steps incompressible: inoculation of the virus on eggs, harvesting, purification, inactivation, packaging, licensing, etc. "After identification and isolation of a new strain of influenza virus likely to give rise to a pandemic, must be about five to six months in order to begin to provide qualified vaccines", said the World Health Organization (who), which provided late may strain to labs.

Available plants

"We already have results on the security and safety of products." "We currently expect data on their level of efficiency," said Fabienne Bartoli, Assistant to the Director General of the French Agency of sanitary safety of health products (Afssaps).

Beyond the established procedure, the laboratory must juggle with the production of other influenza vaccine, one that protects the seasonal virus. "We have completed the production of vaccine against seasonal influenza on our sites of Val-de-Reuil (Eure) and Swiftwater (Pennsylvania)". "We will able to devote these influenza A vaccine production capacity, as a second plant is available in the United States," said Benoît Rungeard, Director of communication in Sanofi Pasteur. However, Val-de-Reuil plant, currently under maintenance, is not directly operational. All laboratories meet the same brake: the poor performance of the strain of the influenza A (H1N1), which slows the manufacturing process.

Baxter in advanced

It is a US laboratory, Baxter, who appears to have won the race, announcing on August 5, a first commercial production of the vaccine, the Celvapan. The Group has used the technique of culture cell, faster but much more expensive that culture on eggs embryonated, whose technology is perfectly under control. The industrial of Deerfield, Illinois, which is reached to manufacture his product in twelve weeks after receipt of the strain, was however not among laboratories selected by the French Government.

For the 94 million doses ordered (two doses per person at an interval of 21 days), Paris has contacted Sanofi-Pasteur (28 million doses, with an option for 28 million), the Swiss Novartis (16 million doses, and 8 million optional), and the British GlaxoSmithKline (50 million). The latter produces its vaccine from eggs on two sites, one in Dresden and the other in Sainte-Foy, Quebec. Laboratories now await the permissions on the market from the European authorities.

For its part, Novartis has played on two tables, using the traditional manufacturing egg at Liverpool and Siena and cell culture in Marburg, in Germany. The Swiss Group obtained orders more 35 Governments, including US $ 979 million. An amount almost four times more than 251 million US contract won by Sanofi Pasteur for the Antigen (the active ingredient in the vaccine) in bulk, or to the command of 250 million sent by Washington to GSK. Deliveries will be spread between the months of October and the beginning of 2010. At the time where will start discussions with the who on the next vaccine against seasonal influenza in the southern hemisphere.