Sanofi-Aventis, GlaxoSmithKline Will Donate Influenza Vaccines To WHO

The drugmaker Sanofi-Aventis will donate millions of doses of a vaccine that offers protection against the H1N1 (swine flu) virus to the WHO once the vaccine is ready, the company’s chief executive officer announced Tuesday, Reuters reports (Elsner, Reuters, 6/17). The AP/Google.com writes, “Exceptional times require exceptional responses. We need to act responsibly and we all have to play our part,” Sanofi CEO Christopher Viehbacher said in a statement released during the Pacific Health Summit in Seattle. “This flexible donation aims to help the WHO address the needs of these most vulnerable populations,” he said.

Viehbacher said Sanofi will give a total of 100 million doses of swine flu and bird flu vaccines, according to the AP/Google.com (Johnson, AP/Google.com, 6/17). “In the event that Sanofi Pasteur’s manufacturing facilities become fully committed to the production of pandemic vaccine,” the company will offer the vaccine to developing countries at a reduced rate, according to a company statement (Sanofi-Aventis release, 6/17).

As drug makers continue to work on developing a viable H1N1 vaccine, the WHO has held off on “whether people should get vaccinated against H1N1, which has spread to all regions of the world,” Reuters writes. “WHO has estimated vaccine makers could produce up to 4.9 billion pandemic flu shots a year in a best-case scenario, leaving some of the world’s 6.5 billion population unprotected, particularly if more than one dose was needed” (Reuters, 6/17).

A GlaxoSmithKline spokesman told Bloomberg the company also plans to donate 50 million doses of an H1N1 vaccine to the WHO. Bloomberg writes, “The decisions by Sanofi and Glaxo contrast with that of Novartis AG, which said this week it wouldn’t donate the vaccine,” but “may look at pricing and other ways to assure access.” The company’s resistance toward donating vaccines to developing countries stems from their belief “[d]onations won’t address the current pandemic or create sustainable access, [Novartis spokesman Eric] Althoff said.”

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