Push is on for vaccine against fatal swine flu
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By Bruce Japsen
The Chicago Tribune
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DEERFIELD, Ill. — With world health officials worried about the global outbreak of another deadly virus, Deerfield-based Baxter International Inc. once again finds itself involved in the action.
Baxter confirmed over the weekend that it is working with the World Health Organization on a potential vaccine to curb the deadly swine flu virus that is blamed for scores of deaths in Mexico and has emerged as a threat in the U.S.
Baxter, which has an emerging vaccine business, has worked with the U.S. and foreign countries in the past to develop vaccines for the H5N1 virus commonly known as bird flu.
Baxter has a cell-based technology that allows the company to produce vaccines more rapidly in the event of a pandemic than a decades-old method that uses eggs and can take weeks or months longer. Although the egg-based method has produced safe and effective vaccines, analysts say Baxter's method can cut production times in half compared with the older process.
"Upon learning about the swine flu outbreak in Mexico, Baxter requested a virus sample from WHO to do laboratory testing for potentially developing an experimental vaccine," company spokesman Christopher Bona told the Tribune.
In the past, Baxter has developed vaccines and worked with countries to stockpile vaccines even while they undergo experimental testing. The idea behind the government stockpiles, in the case of the bird flu, for example, is to prepare against outbreak.
As of Sunday, Baxter would not say whether the U.S. or other countries have contacted the company to develop a stockpile against swine flu. Other companies, too, develop vaccines and have been used to stockpile vaccines.
The effort to ensure a safe vaccine supply and an adequate number of manufacturers has taken on greater importance in recent years.
Three years ago, for example, the Bush administration awarded about $1 billion to vaccine makers as a way to increase and speed production, particularly after the spread of bird flu. Several vaccine makers, including Baxter, GlaxoSmithKline and others, were awarded multimillion-dollar contracts.
Over the years, Baxter has worked with governments around the world to develop and produce vaccines to protect against infectious disease or potential threats from bioterrorism.
In the wake of the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, Baxter worked with British biotech company Acambis to supply stockpiles of a smallpox vaccine. In 2003, Baxter was awarded a U.S. contract to develop and produce a vaccine against severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) for use by the National Institutes of Health in early human clinical trials. And in 2005, Baxter worked with another company to develop a "plasma-based therapeutic targeted for use in individuals who may be exposed to nerve gas poisons," the company said at the time.
Because it's so early in the swine flu vaccine development process, Baxter would not estimate when a vaccine might be ready.
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