WSJ.com - New Flu Vaccine -- Minus the Eggs

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" Baxter anticipates being able to make 10 million to 15 million doses in

2005, and 40 million to 50 million doses by 2007. The product is a $200

million to $400 million opportunity for the $8.5 billion company, Baxter

says. "

From Belkin

New Flu Vaccine -- Minus the Eggs

Shots Could Be Given

To People with Allergies;

Fermenters Used Instead

By DANIEL ROSENBERG

DOW JONES NEWSWIRES

CHICAGO -- More than 80 million Americans got a flu shot this year, and

tens of millions of chickens surrendered their eggs to make that possible.

The flu vaccine is made by growing flu virus inside a chicken egg, a

technology that has been around for decades. But Baxter International Inc.

is working on a flu vaccine that could be grown without any avian

contribution, and the company hopes to have it on the market in Europe next

year and in the U.S. perhaps by 2007, assuming approval from the Food and

Drug Administration.

Chiron Corp., the second-largest flu-vaccine company, is also working on a

cell-culture vaccine. It expects to enter Phase III trials in Europe next

year.

Baxter, which doesn't currently sell a flu vaccine, says the advantages of

its vero cell flu vaccine would include the company not having to buy

millions of eggs, fewer problems with egg allergies that prevent a small

portion of people from being able to receive a flu shot, and preventing the

likelihood, however small, of transmitting diseases from chickens to people

through a flu vaccine.

But Aventis Pasteur, the vaccines business of Aventis and the world's

largest producer of flu vaccine, says egg-based technology has worked well

for years and that there is no reason to change. The company has looked

into the vero cell technology Baxter is researching and hasn't found a way

to make it cost effective.

Baxter says it will grow the flu virus inside huge fermenters. A single

tank, the company says, can produce as much flu virus as one million eggs,

without the hassle.

" It's certainly a wonderful opportunity for us, " said Kim Bush, president

of Baxter's vaccines business, a part of the Deerfield, Ill., company's

BioSciences division. " We're ramping up production capability. "

Influenza causes approximately 36,000 deaths and 114,000 hospitalizations

each year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in

Atlanta. More than 90% of deaths occur among people age 65 and older.

Baxter anticipates being able to make 10 million to 15 million doses in

2005, and 40 million to 50 million doses by 2007. The product is a $200

million to $400 million opportunity for the $8.5 billion company, Baxter says.

For the last 30 to 40 years, flu virus has been grown in chicken eggs. When

a fertilized egg is eight to nine days old, it is injected by needle with a

tiny bit of flu virus, which then grows in the egg and is harvested one to

two days later. A single egg is needed to make one dose of vaccine

containing a multitude of flu viruses, and major flu vaccine makers like

Aventis Pasteur and Chiron need tens of millions of eggs every year.

About 4% of the population is allergic to eggs, according to Baxter, and

many of these people can't get a flu shot.

However, allergist Lee Sonin, who practices in the Chicago suburbs, said

his office vaccinates hundreds of people for flu every year and only four

or five patients don't receive a shot due to allergies. Sonin added that he

sometimes has given flu vaccine even to patients who are allergic to eggs

because the danger to them from the flu virus is greater than the danger

from the flu vaccine.

Baxter notes that the current vaccine has a long production cycle. Every

year, the World Health Organization has to decide which three flu strains

the vaccine should protect against, and because of the long production

cycle, must make its decision around August. If Baxter's vero cell flu

vaccine becomes a popular alternative, the company says its shorter

production cycle could mean more flexibility for the WHO when it decides

which strains to target.

Baxter's product is also free of animal proteins. That means there's little

chance of any kind of disease getting spread by the vaccine from animals to

humans.

Write to Rosenberg at daniel.rosenberg@...

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