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Editor, Senior Moderator
Influenza Shots Rise on Reaction to Bird-Flu Risks (Update1)
By Andrea Gerlin
Nov. 9 (Bloomberg) -- Drugmakers, pharmacies and health clinics are reporting increased demand for seasonal influenza vaccines this year, as manufacturers have expanded production.
GlaxoSmithKline Plc and Paris-based Sanofi-Aventis SA said last month that higher sales of the products helped boost their third-quarter results. Novartis AG of Basel, Switzerland is also making more annual flu shots this year. The manufacturers have distributed a record number of doses in the U.S. this season.
More people are receiving the shots after the World Health Organization urged countries to get 75 percent of their elderly populations vaccinated by 2010. Alliance Boots Plc, the U.K.'s largest drug-store chain, had a 57 percent increase in advance appointments at British stores as of October. That's consistent with reports from other clinics and public health agencies in Europe and in the U.S., which say manufacturers are making more doses of vaccine than in previous years.
``This year it's just been phenomenal,'' said London pharmacist Angela Chambers, who has given the 15-pound ($32) inoculations to about 75 patients a week at a Boots store in London. ``We were busy last year but this year it's been unbelievable.''
Seasonal flu strikes 5 percent to 15 percent of the population and kills 250,000 to 500,000 people a year worldwide, according to the WHO.
Increased Capacity
The 11 drugmakers that belong to the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers & Associations' flu vaccine task force have capacity to produce 565 million doses this year if there is demand, according to the Geneva-based group. The companies produced 300 million doses of seasonal flu vaccine last year, when deliveries were delayed by a slow-growing strain of the virus used in production.
London-based Glaxo, Novartis and Sanofi-Aventis, the three biggest makers of annual flu shots, and others improved capacity at their vaccine manufacturing plants to compete in the $2 billion seasonal flu vaccine market.
Companies have been encouraged by governments' higher spending on influenza programs because of bird flu. Scientists have warned that the H5N1 form of the bird flu virus can mutate into a strain that's easily transmitted among humans and can cause a pandemic.
``Another thing that's led to increased vaccine production in the U.S. is there have been a number of efforts around pandemic preparedness,'' Jeanne Santoli, deputy director for the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's immunization services division, told reporters on a conference call today. ``That spills over into their capacity to produce seasonal influenza vaccine.''
Sanofi Unit
Sanofi's vaccine unit will produce ``slightly more'' than the 170 million doses of its FluZone and Vaxigrippe flu vaccines that it produced worldwide last year, including 50 million in the U.S., spokesman Pascal Barollier said.
``We see a better understanding and better knowledge about flu and increasing recommendations for flu vaccinations,'' Barollier said. Mexico and the governments of other countries with fast-growing economies have started to urge more citizens to get shots, he said.
Novartis is delivering 40 million doses of its Fluvirin vaccine in the U.S. this year and demand is running at about double the level last year, said Sarah Coles, an outside spokeswoman. Glaxo planned to ship as many as 35 million doses of its Fluarix and FluLaval vaccines in the U.S. this year, at least 20 percent more than last year, the drugmaker said in September.
AstraZeneca's FluMist
AstraZeneca Plc's MedImmune unit plans to increase production of its FluMist nasal spray flu vaccine, available only in the U.S., to 4.5 million doses this year from 3 million in 2006, spokeswoman Karen Lancaster said.
In the U.S., the biggest market for seasonal flu vaccine, sales are outpacing last year's levels. About 103 million doses of the shots were distributed as of Nov. 2 and manufacturers have told Atlanta-based CDC they can produce another 29 million before the winter flu season ends if they're needed, Santoli said. A total of 102.5 million doses were used in the U.S. in 2006-2007, CDC spokeswoman Shelly S. Diaz said.
``This is really good news that the amount of vaccine distributed so far means that all influenza vaccine providers should have enough vaccine in their offices,'' Santoli said.
Some manufacturers got a jump on supplies by shipping partial orders, she said. So far, the level of flu cases in the U.S. has been ``very low,'' Joe Bresee, chief of the epidemiology and prevention branch at CDC's influenza division, told reporters.
Wider Use
In response to the Geneva-based WHO's targets, the U.S., U.K. and other countries have stepped up publicity campaigns this year to persuade more citizens to get annual flu shots. Chambers, the pharmacist, says more people - especially those not in risk groups such as the elderly or people with weak immune systems - want vaccines against the viral infection that often occurs in January and February.
That's helped boost demand from people like diamond broker Dominic Carr, 40. Carr saw leaflets behind the counter of a Boots pharmacy near his office in London's diamond district and went in for his first-ever flu shot yesterday.
``This time of year is very busy for us and I don't want to get the flu,'' said Carr, who is self-employed. ``I can't afford to get ill.''
To contact the reporter on this story: Andrea Gerlin in London at agerlin@bloomberg.net
Last Updated: November 9, 2007 13:05 EST
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601202&sid=aOr.iKJCKbSk&refer=healthcare
By Andrea Gerlin
Nov. 9 (Bloomberg) -- Drugmakers, pharmacies and health clinics are reporting increased demand for seasonal influenza vaccines this year, as manufacturers have expanded production.
GlaxoSmithKline Plc and Paris-based Sanofi-Aventis SA said last month that higher sales of the products helped boost their third-quarter results. Novartis AG of Basel, Switzerland is also making more annual flu shots this year. The manufacturers have distributed a record number of doses in the U.S. this season.
More people are receiving the shots after the World Health Organization urged countries to get 75 percent of their elderly populations vaccinated by 2010. Alliance Boots Plc, the U.K.'s largest drug-store chain, had a 57 percent increase in advance appointments at British stores as of October. That's consistent with reports from other clinics and public health agencies in Europe and in the U.S., which say manufacturers are making more doses of vaccine than in previous years.
``This year it's just been phenomenal,'' said London pharmacist Angela Chambers, who has given the 15-pound ($32) inoculations to about 75 patients a week at a Boots store in London. ``We were busy last year but this year it's been unbelievable.''
Seasonal flu strikes 5 percent to 15 percent of the population and kills 250,000 to 500,000 people a year worldwide, according to the WHO.
Increased Capacity
The 11 drugmakers that belong to the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers & Associations' flu vaccine task force have capacity to produce 565 million doses this year if there is demand, according to the Geneva-based group. The companies produced 300 million doses of seasonal flu vaccine last year, when deliveries were delayed by a slow-growing strain of the virus used in production.
London-based Glaxo, Novartis and Sanofi-Aventis, the three biggest makers of annual flu shots, and others improved capacity at their vaccine manufacturing plants to compete in the $2 billion seasonal flu vaccine market.
Companies have been encouraged by governments' higher spending on influenza programs because of bird flu. Scientists have warned that the H5N1 form of the bird flu virus can mutate into a strain that's easily transmitted among humans and can cause a pandemic.
``Another thing that's led to increased vaccine production in the U.S. is there have been a number of efforts around pandemic preparedness,'' Jeanne Santoli, deputy director for the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's immunization services division, told reporters on a conference call today. ``That spills over into their capacity to produce seasonal influenza vaccine.''
Sanofi Unit
Sanofi's vaccine unit will produce ``slightly more'' than the 170 million doses of its FluZone and Vaxigrippe flu vaccines that it produced worldwide last year, including 50 million in the U.S., spokesman Pascal Barollier said.
``We see a better understanding and better knowledge about flu and increasing recommendations for flu vaccinations,'' Barollier said. Mexico and the governments of other countries with fast-growing economies have started to urge more citizens to get shots, he said.
Novartis is delivering 40 million doses of its Fluvirin vaccine in the U.S. this year and demand is running at about double the level last year, said Sarah Coles, an outside spokeswoman. Glaxo planned to ship as many as 35 million doses of its Fluarix and FluLaval vaccines in the U.S. this year, at least 20 percent more than last year, the drugmaker said in September.
AstraZeneca's FluMist
AstraZeneca Plc's MedImmune unit plans to increase production of its FluMist nasal spray flu vaccine, available only in the U.S., to 4.5 million doses this year from 3 million in 2006, spokeswoman Karen Lancaster said.
In the U.S., the biggest market for seasonal flu vaccine, sales are outpacing last year's levels. About 103 million doses of the shots were distributed as of Nov. 2 and manufacturers have told Atlanta-based CDC they can produce another 29 million before the winter flu season ends if they're needed, Santoli said. A total of 102.5 million doses were used in the U.S. in 2006-2007, CDC spokeswoman Shelly S. Diaz said.
``This is really good news that the amount of vaccine distributed so far means that all influenza vaccine providers should have enough vaccine in their offices,'' Santoli said.
Some manufacturers got a jump on supplies by shipping partial orders, she said. So far, the level of flu cases in the U.S. has been ``very low,'' Joe Bresee, chief of the epidemiology and prevention branch at CDC's influenza division, told reporters.
Wider Use
In response to the Geneva-based WHO's targets, the U.S., U.K. and other countries have stepped up publicity campaigns this year to persuade more citizens to get annual flu shots. Chambers, the pharmacist, says more people - especially those not in risk groups such as the elderly or people with weak immune systems - want vaccines against the viral infection that often occurs in January and February.
That's helped boost demand from people like diamond broker Dominic Carr, 40. Carr saw leaflets behind the counter of a Boots pharmacy near his office in London's diamond district and went in for his first-ever flu shot yesterday.
``This time of year is very busy for us and I don't want to get the flu,'' said Carr, who is self-employed. ``I can't afford to get ill.''
To contact the reporter on this story: Andrea Gerlin in London at agerlin@bloomberg.net
Last Updated: November 9, 2007 13:05 EST
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601202&sid=aOr.iKJCKbSk&refer=healthcare