UPDATE: Glaxo Expects Further Swine Flu Vaccine Orders
July 22 2009 - 9:32AM
Dow Jones News
GlaxoSmithKline PLC (GSK.LN) Wednesday said it secured orders
for 195 million doses of a new swine flu vaccine and expects to
receive significantly more, as governments seek to stockpile
medicines as the global pandemic worsens.
Brentford, England-based GlaxoSmithKline, the world's second
largest drug maker by sales, said it started production of an H1N1
vaccine in June and will start shipping the first doses in
September.
Andrew Witty, Chief Executive Officer, told reporters the
company is in talks with 50 governments and he expects further
significant orders of the vaccine, and "sustained levels of orders"
over the next few years.
The U.S. government has asked Glaxo to supply it with pandemic
products - components like antigens rather than finished vaccine -
worth $250 million.
"The volume of orders is unprecedented," Witty said.
Shipments are expected to increase in the second half of 2009
and continue into 2010. Witty said it wasn't yet clear how much
GlaxoSmithKline could earn from its new vaccine, or precisely when,
as it all depends on the yield of the virus in the manufacturing
process, which isn't yet known because the vaccine is still being
developed.
Every virus is different, and different strains will produce
greater of lesser amounts of vaccine. That means GlaxoSmithKline
doesn't yet know what its ultimate annual production capacity will
be.
Still, Witty said Glaxo believes it can meet demand.
The company is also expecting an increase in sales of Relenza,
an existing antiviral treatment being used to combat swine flu.
Second-quarter Relenza sales leapt to GBP60 million from GBP3
million a year earlier, Glaxo said Wednesday, as governments built
stockpiles.
The company said it will triple its capacity to produce Relenza
to 190 million doses annually by the end of the year. One hundred
and sixty sacked Glaxo workers were recalled in France to help with
this new effort, according to a report by Agence France Presse
Wednesday.
The British company isn't alone in working on new vaccines to
fight swine flu, which the World Health Organization said this
month has spread with unprecedented speed. Novartis AG (NOVN.VX),
Baxter International Inc. (BAX) and Sanofi-Aventis S.A. (SAN.FR)
are also working to fill orders. Baxter said July 16 it had orders
for 80 million doses of an H1N1 vaccine.
Glaxo Wednesday said second-quarter revenue dipped 2% to GBP6.7
billion, once the beneficial effects of sterling's weakness were
stripped out. The company has suffered a decline in U.S. sales,
where former big sellers like central nervous system drugs Lamictal
and Wellbutrin have faced generic competition.
Still, Witty said Wednesday the drug maker has several new
products in its pipeline to help rebuild U.S. sales.
It plans to will file a meningitis vaccine called Menhibrix for
approval in the second half of the year, and aims to start phase
three development of its Horizon programme, the successor the
blockbuster Advair respiratory franchise, in October.
Company Web site: www.gsk.com
-By Jason Douglas, Dow Jones Newswires; 44-20-7842-9272;
jason.douglas@dowjones.com