Sanofi Pasteur gets seed virus to produce new flu A(H1N1) vacc

Sanofi Pasteur, the vaccines division of French drug major Sanofi-Aventis, has received the new influenza A(H1N1) seed virus,  enabling it to begin the production process for an A(H1N1) vaccine. The  emergence of a new flu virus strain recently led the World Health  Organization to declare a Level 5 pandemic alert (Marketletters  passim), following human-to-human spread of the virus into at least two  countries in one WHO region.

"As a company committed to protecting human health, Sanofi Pasteur looks  forward to quickly understanding how this virus performs in a vaccine  manufacturing environment and developing a working seed that will  enable large-scale production," noted Wayne Pisano, chief executive of  Sanofi Pasteur. "This is an important step for engaging Sanofi Pasteur's  resources and expertise to support public health authorities and the  directives they provide us," he added.

Receipt of the seed virus means that Sanofi Pasteur will begin the  development process, called "passaging," that will yield a "working  seed." Passaging is the process for acclimating virus to grow in a  production environment at optimum yield. This process is expected to  take approximately two weeks.