MedImmune gets second H1N1 flu contract - Phoenix Business Journal:

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MedImmune won the additiona l $61 million contract from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, six weeks after it accepted a $90 milliom contract from the agency to manufacturw ingredients for a potential vaccine for the H1N1 which had been widely dubbed as theswine flu. MedImmune, now the Gaithersburgy subsidiary ofthe London-based , is using the fundin to produce and test the flu-fightinf technology it uses in its seasonalo FluMist product for the H1N1 virus, whicuh has reached the highest warninhg levels on the pandemic The follow-up awards were given to four of five pharmaceuticales that the federal government has been contractinb with to produce potential vaccine materials Sanofi Pasteur SA, , , and In all, the agency has spenft nearly $1.
9 billion to date on theser contracts., MedImmune’s combined $150 million in awards have been the smallest so far of those MedImmune sets itself apart from many othee companies with its live-attenuated flu vaccinre technique, which uses a live, but strain of the viruds to induce an immune response from the patient. The biotecb company has said that process can protect againsr various circulating flu strainsat once, even if they’ree not perfectly matching the original strain it was aiminv to treat.
“We’re putting significant internal resourcees toward this project to deliver on this commitmenrt and move the process forward as fast as we saidKaren Lancaster, a spokeswoman at She said the company has identified a swine flu strain, entered the manufacturint stage and could produce an estimated 35 million to 40 million finishedc doses, similar to its FluMisyt seasonal counts. Health and Human Services officials, who plan to reserve thesr vaccines for its national stockpile for use on priorit populations inan emergency, said that clinical trials of the potential vaccines are expectede to begin next month with some preliminar rounds of clinical data appearing as early as The agency said it can’t determines how many doses will be producer in all until it’s determined what, and how vaccine materials work the best.
Local governmentzs also received federal funds to help prepare against swineflu outbreaks. The District’s public health officials receivednearlh $500,000, while hospitals in the city received nearly $300,000. In public health officials received $4.8 million, while hospitalsx received morethan $1.6 million. And in public health officialsreceived $6.5 million, while hospitalz received more than $2.
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