US dependence on foreign H1N1 vaccines
On Tuesday September 15th, the FDA approved the long-anticipated H1N1 flu vaccine.
By on Sep 17, 2009On Tuesday September 15th, the FDA approved the long-anticipated H1N1 flu vaccine. The distribution of 45 million doses will start across America in mid-October (with an extra 150 million doses to follow) in what is estimated to be the largest immunization campaign in America to date.
While the media has focused its attention on the race against time that is taking place before the regular flu season peaks this fall, it is interesting to note another less covered topic: Americas dependence on foreign pharmaceutical companies in critical times.
In fact, the only US healthcare company participating in the H1N1 vaccine production program, Baxter, has paired-up with UK-based GlaxoSmithKline to supply over 130 million doses to the British Government.
Who is supplying vaccines to the US? Swiss-based Novartis, Sanofi Pasteur from France, UK-based AstraZeneca (through its MedImmune subsidiary) and Australian CSL. Needless to say these are very respectable global businesses with a significant amount of operations in America. But the question is: What are US-based players up to? Pfizer is developing a vaccine for pigs against the human H1N1 strain, a bit of an ironic situation as it was their flu to start with, but a necessary step to avoid further cross-contamination and virus strain mutations.
Is this balance of power in the global human vaccine marketplace worrisome to you? Please comment below.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iqI-dPCsFhc&NR=1
Sources: Associate Press, Business Week, The Independent, beaker.com, Fox News