ZURICH, June 12 (Reuters) - Novartis AG (NOVN.VX)
expects a vaccine for the H1N1 virus, the source of the first flu
pandemic for 40 years, to be available by the autumn after it produced
the first batch for testing ahead of schedule.
The vaccine will
enter clinical trials next month, the Swiss 
drugmaker said on Friday,a day after the World Health Organisation 
declared a pandemic and warned
governments to prepare for a long battle against the virus.
[ID:nNLB765857]
 Novartis, Sanofi-Aventis (SASY.PA), GlaxoSmithKline (GSK.L) and Solvay (SOLB.BR)
all obtained the influenza A (H1N1) seed virus in recent weeks and aim
to have a vaccine ready ahead of the northern hemisphere flu season.
[ID:nLB16505]
The WHO has estimated vaccine makers could
produce up to 4.9 billion pandemic flu shots a year in a best-case
scenario, leaving some of the world's 6.5 billion population
unprotected, particularly if more than one injection was needed to gain
immunity.

 Novartis said first results with the H1N1 wild type
strain showed it was quicker to make the vaccine through cell-based
than through egg-based production, and it had completed its first batch
weeks earlier than expected.

 Its cell-culture vaccine plant in
Marburg, Germany had the potential to produce millions of doses per
week, but it was difficult to predict output capacity for now.

Spokesman Eric Althoff said Novartis should have the vaccine ready in
September or October. He was unsure if other companies had completed
the first stage of the production process. Glaxo said on Friday it
would be able to meet advance purchase commitments for 150 to 180
million doses, and the 50 million it donated to the WHO for developing
countries. [ID:nLF949487]

 "We don't see any upside in this race
to have the first vial off the production line. For us its about
focusing on producing significant volumes of the pandemic vaccine to
ensure that countries and their populations are protected," a Glaxo
spokesman said.

 Wayne Pisano, head of vaccines at Sanofi, the
world's largest flu vaccine supplier, said on Thursday his company
would "produce the largest number of doses of vaccine in the shortest
timeframe", though it would be another four months before the first
supply of bulk concentrate was ready.

 By 1138 GMT, shares in
Novartis had risen 4 percent to 44.84 Swiss francs, while the European
pharmaceuticals sector was trading 2.3 percent higher .SXDP. Glaxo,
Sanofi and Solvay shares rose between 1.3 and 3.7 percent.

CELL-BASED TECHNOLOGY
The H1N1 strain has spread widely, with 28,774 infections confirmed in
74 countries to date, including 144 deaths, according to the WHO's
latest tally. Although the strain seems mild at present, health
officials are worried it might return in a more virulent form in the
northern hemisphere winter.

 While commercial production of
vaccines usually depends on how easily a virus strain grows in chicken
eggs, Novartis said its cell-based technology means it can produce a
vaccine without having to adapt the virus strain to grow in eggs.

MANILA, Philippines—(UPDATE) The Department of Health (DoH) confirmed the first case of A(H1N1) influenza in the country Thursday night.

“The DoH confirms today the first case of A(H1N1) in the Philippines. She is a female traveler who arrived in the country on May 18 from the United States, whose throat specimen tested positive based on results from the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine,” Health Secretary Francisco Duque said in a press conference at the World Health Organization Regional office in Manila.

According to Dr. Eric Tayag, director for the National Epidemiology Center, the first case is a 10-year-old female, who also visited Canada when she was in the United States.

Tayag declined to identify the research facility where the girl is being quarantined and treated.

“I talked with the president and from the tone of her voice she is very concerned. In fact, she gave me the go signal to conduct this press conference,” Duque added.

The patient is currently being monitored while her immediate household was advised to follow quarantine and social distancing procedures from the DoH, said Duque.

Despite the index case, Duque said: “There is no community outbreak in the country, measures are being done to prevent transmission including quarantine of immediate household of the first case. The first case is something we have been preparing for and a result of public and private sectors’ effective surveillance system.”

Health Undersecretary Mario Villaverde said the test results came Thursday afternoon from RITM in Muntinlupa City and the patient was immediately given antiviral Oseltamivir. The first case no longer has fever and cough but still has sore throat, said Villaverde.

Tayag said specimens from the index case will be sent to a WHO collaborating center in Melbourne as routine procedure for all specimens that will test positive for the novel A(H1N1).

“The child developed the symptoms a day after arrival, so this is also a call for vigilance on the part of the public that people in the country and incoming travelers from abroad, especially from infected areas, to submit themselves to quarantine screening and continuous monitoring of health, especially body temperature for 10 days, and to report to the DoH any flu-like symptoms,” said Villaverde.

Villaverde reiterated that the public should observe proper hygiene, strengthen resistance and do social distancing—avoid going to crowded areas if the need is not urgent.

At this point of one single confirmed case, Vilaverde said, there is no need to postpone the opening of schools in June.