WASHINGTON—Vaccine makers can not guarantee enough future supplies of flu vaccines unless the government can help ensure profitability, drug company officials told U.S. Congress on Thursday.
Unless the market is expanded—either by ensuring that more at-risk people get vaccinations for influenza or simply more people in general, companies have little incentive for innovation, the executives said.
"Raising demand is key to raising supply," Howard Pien, president and chief executive officer of Emeryville, Calif.-based Chiron Corp. said.
The three companies that make flu vaccines for the U.S. market—Aventis SA, Chiron and MedImmune Inc. presented testimony at a meeting of
the U.S. House Government Reform Committee.
This year's flu season hit early and was heavily covered by the media, creating vaccine shortages as people rushed to get flu shots.
The shortage also left many officials wondering what would happen if a severe flu pandemic were to break out, especially as human cases of the so-called "bird flu" mount in Asia.
"The next flu pandemic could be right around the corner," U.S. Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) said at the meeting.
But manufacturers said they need steady demand when there isn't a pandemic in order to have the capacity to quickly increase production during an emergency—otherwise they could loose money on unused equipment and doses.
MedImmune, which makes the nasal spray flu vaccine called FluMist, said current approved use for the spray—individuals ages 5 to 49—was too narrow.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends the vaccine for children between 6 and 23 months old and adults 65 and older—two groups it considers at higher risk for the disease.
"A universal recommendation... will in turn provide the impetus on the part of vaccine manufacturers to increase their production capacity to meet routine demand," James Young, president of Research and Development at MedImmune, said.
The Gaithersburg, Md.-based MedImmune also said the past year was one of "lost opportunities" in which 4 million of 5 million FluMist doses went unused.
"Our very public experience this season will most certainly have a chilling effect on others who are considering entry into this business," Young said.
FluMist is co-marketed with Wyeth, which gets a share of the drug's profits. The spray can also cost up to three times as much as a flu shot.
Shares of MedImmune closed up 46 cents, or 1.8 percent, to $25.99 on Nasdaq. Chiron shares fell 44 cents to close at $52.80 on Nasdaq, and Wyeth shares closed down 14 cents on the New York Stock Exchange.
WASHINGTON—The American Academy of Pediatrics updated its guidelines on Wednesday for influenza vaccines, saying healthy babies under the age of 2 should be routinely immunized against the virus.
The guidelines are in line with the U.S, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which updated its recommendations last October.
The academy said flu could be as dangerous to babies as to old people. Each year, influenza kills an average of 36,000 Americans and puts 114,000 in the hospital.
"Young, healthy children are at risk of hospitalization for influenza infection," the academy said in a statement.
"Therefore, the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends influenza immunization for children between 6 and 24 months of age, for household contacts and out-of-home caregivers of all children younger than 24 months of age, and for health care professionals."
While this year's early flu season made headlines, the CDC says it was only a moderately severe year. More than 120 children died of the flu but it is unclear whether that was an unusually high number as detailed national statistics are not kept on flu deaths.
The National Foundation for Infectious Diseases welcomed the new guidelines, which will be sent to pediatricians nationwide.
"Influenza puts children 6 to 24 months of age at significant risk for hospitalizations due to pneumonia, respiratory conditions, heart failure and inflammation of the heart muscle (myocarditis)," the NFID said in a statement.
"Influenza illness also increases the risk of a child developing otitis media (ear infection), pneumonia, croup and sepsis (blood infection)," it added.
source: http://www.reutershealth.com/archive/2004/03/11/eline/links/20040311elin005.html 15mar04
|
To
send us your comments, questions, and suggestions click
here |