Czech Republic May Cancel GSK Swine Flu Vaccine Orders

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UPDATE: Czech Republic May Cancel GSK Swine Flu Vaccine Orders

(Adds GlaxoSmithKline comment)

PRAGUE -(Dow Jones)- Czech Healthcare Minister Dana Juraskova will hold talks with GlaxoSmithKline PLC (GSK) on possibly canceling vaccination shots for swine flu, or A/H1N1, ordered earlier, ministry spokesman Vlastmil Srsen said Thursday.

The ministry had ordered a total of 1 million shots of the vaccine from GSK and planned to use them all.

"The minister has been asked by the government security council to initiate such talks with GSK so that there's such a possibility of not receiving all ordered vaccines," Srsen said.

GSK is ready "to negotiate with the government of the Czech Republic about cutting back the order of pandemic vaccine Pademrix," Eva Sebestova, the spokeswoman of the Czech unit of GSK, told Dow Jones Newswires, referring to the brand name of the company's vaccination shots for swine flu.

The U.K. pharmaceutical firm has so far delivered 238,000 swine flu vaccination shots and "over 60,000 have been used up so far," Srsen said.

Firm dates for talks between the Czech government and GSK haven't been set yet, Sebestova said, adding that the negotiation is expected to take place on the local level with GSK being represented by its Czech unit.

"GSK will seek to accommodate demands by the Czech government," she said.

Ministry Web site: www.mzcr.cz

-By Leos Rousek, Dow Jones Newswires; +420 222 315 290, leos.rousek@dowjones.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 04, 2010 10:11 ET (15:11 GMT)

 

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Re: Czech Republic May Cancel GSK Swine Flu Vaccine Orders

Czechs cancel a third of GSK swine flu vaccines order

(AFP) ? 1 hour ago

PRAGUE ? Czech health authorities said Friday they had cancelled around a third of their order of one million H1N1 vaccines from British pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline (GSK).

"Under a supplementary part of the contract with GSK, the Czech Republic will obtain 700,000 doses," Health Minister Dana Juraskova said.

"This modification of the contract isn't linked to any kind of a financial penalty," she told journalists.

Health authorities planned to expand the use of the vaccine beyond the initial project which covered 500,000 people including doctors, those "necessary for the functioning of state" and high-risk cases, Juraskova said.

Czech health authorities said Thursday the H1N1 virus had claimed 100 lives in the republic of 10.2 million people.

A total 2,434 cased of H1N1 were confirmed while 64,066 doses of the vaccine had been administered as of Thursday, they said.

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