Online BusinessNovartis starts testing its swine flu vaccine
Swiss drugmaker Novartis has begun injecting its swine flu vaccine into people in the company"s first human tests, a spokesman said today.
- Novartis loses battle for cancer drug patent - Novartis raises stake in Indian arm to 76.42% - Novartis says produces first batch of H1N1 vaccine - Novartis hikes open offer to Rs 450 - Novartis sweetens bid for India arm to Rs 450 a share - Novartis may revise open offer Sensex ends up 35pts
A person in Britain became the first to get the swine flu vaccine about 10 days ago, he said.
Since swine flu was declared to be a pandemic, or global outbreak, by the World Health Organization in June, pharmaceuticals have been racing to get their vaccines ready.
Last month, Australian drugmaker CSL became the first vaccine maker to start testing its vaccine in humans in Australia.
"We initiated clinical trials about 10 days ago," Althoff said.
Half of Novartis" vaccines being tested are grown in chicken eggs, the traditional way of making flu vaccines, while the other half use a new cell-based technology.
The trial will test the vaccine"s safety and whether one or two shots are necessary.
"Our assumption is that two doses will be required," Althoff said.