Pharmaceutical companies around the world are racing to produce H1N1 vaccine before the next flu season starts this fall. One of the leading pharmaceutical companies Baxter International Inc announced today that they have the vaccine ready for distribution.

The H1N1 vaccine to be sold under the brand name Celvapan, made using Baxter’s cell culture process, which is designed to be faster than traditional vaccine production methods, where virus samples must be put into specially raised chicken eggs to grow. Baxter has contract to sell their product to many countries such as the U.K, Ireland and New Zealand but not in the United States.

Baxter’s proprietary Vero cell production technology is meeting the company’s expectations to rapidly produce a vaccine in response to a pandemic. CELVAPAN was developed and commercially produced using this process within 12 weeks of receiving the A/H1N1 virus strain, which represents an innovation in vaccine production.

“We are pleased with our company’s ability to meet its expected timelines in developing and producing CELVAPAN,” said Joy Amundson, corporate vice president and president of Baxter BioScience. “This is an encouraging validation of our science, our Vero cell vaccine technology and the teamwork at Baxter in meeting this important milestone to help address an urgent public health issue.”  Baxter International

Swine flu now is considered moderate according to WHO, but they expecting it to become worse when the temprature cools down which make it better environmen for the virus to grow and spread.

Via – Reuters