Novartis hopes to have H1N1 vaccine by fall

According to a Forbes article by Javier Espinoza, Novartis has announced that "[it] has successfully completed the production of the first batch of the influenza A(H1N1) vaccine."  The Swiss pharmaceutical company believes that it will be able to have the vaccine available by fall.  

This announcement comes just a day after Dr. Margaret Chan, Director-General of the WHO, released a statement declaring that "the world is now at the start of the 2009 influenza pandemic."  Espinoza explains that the WHO gave leading pharmaceutical manufacturers (i.e. GlaxoSmithKline, Novartis, and Sanofi Aventis) were given a strain of the H1N1 virus two weeks ago.

For Novartis' media release on its vaccine: Novartis successfully demonstrates capabilities of cell-based technology for production of A(H1N1) vaccine

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