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EPIDEMICS
Novartis lagging with swine flu vaccines: Dutch ministry

Spain to begin trials of swine flu vaccine on children
Spain is to begin clinical trials of a swine flu vaccine developed by British pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline, the government said Tuesday. The trial will involve 400 children between six months and 17 years, Health Minister Trinidad Jimenez said. The results will be not be available for at least six months, but this would not prevent the vaccine from being used before then, she said. GSK is among a select few leading pharmaceutical companies that are creating vaccines against the A(H1N1) virus for millions of people to take ahead of the northern hemisphere winter so that they avoid contracting the illness. It announced last month it had launched clinical trials of its vaccine that would involve 9,000 people in Europe, Canada and the United States. The Spanish government plans to have enough stock of swine flu vaccine to vaccinate 60 percent of the population. A total of 25 people have died of the A(H1N1) virus in Spain, the first European country to confirm a case of the virus and the second-most affected country on the continent after Britain.
by Staff Writers
 The Hague (AFP) Sept 8, 2009
 The Dutch health ministry said Tuesday Swiss drugs giant Novartis was behind on swine flu vaccine orders and would deliver less than half of the first batch of 20 million doses.

Novartis informed Dutch authorities last week that the first delivery, expected in late October, would not be as big as expected, the ministry said in a statement.

The company had also "informed the World Health Organisation that the yield of vaccines is lower than expected," it added.

"The Netherlands expects to receive less than half of the ordered number of doses with the first delivery" -- some six to 10 million doses, said the statement.

"Other countries are also having trouble with the late delivery of ordered vaccines."

Dutch authorities said last month they would from October offer vaccinations to about five to six million people considered most at risk of complications from the A(H1N1) virus.

These included people with cardiac or liver diseases, diabetes and immune deficiencies; women with health problems who are more than four months pregnant; and everybody aged over 60.

Health Minister Ab Klink said Novartis would deliver vaccines proportionally; more for those countries that had ordered more.

"We (the Netherlands) will get a relatively big number because we ordered vaccines for the entire population in spring."

Novartis would not confirm or deny the statement.

"Novartis has been in continuous dialogue over the last months with governments, including the Dutch government, due to the low yield of the current seed strain received from WHO and the potential impact on delivery timelines and volume," said Novartis spokesman Eric Althoff.

"It is clear to governments that our H1N1 contracts are dependent on yields and we remain committed to our contractual obligations."

The Netherlands has ordered 34 million doses of swine flu vaccine, enough for two doses for each of its 16.5 million inhabitants.

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EPIDEMICS
France to use swine flu to gut legal protections: report
 Paris (AFP) Sept 8, 2009
 In case of a swine flu pandemic the French government has a plan to introduce emergency measures that would gut legal protections for citizens, the daily Liberation reported Tuesday. According to documents provided to the daily by a judges' union, the plan would extend the period police can keep a suspect in detention without charge or a hearing before a judge to up to six months. ... read more






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