EU drugs agency maps path for pandemic vaccine

By Ben Hirschler

LONDON (Reuters) - Europe's drugs watchdog met vaccine manufacturers on Thursday, a further step in preparations for a flu pandemic.

The European Medicines Agency said it held talks with companies to share information on the new strain of flu, which has killed up to 176 people in Mexico, and discussed regulatory issues concerning the development and approval of pandemic vaccines.

The World Health Organization (WHO) still believes it is too soon for manufacturers to stop making the seasonal influenza vaccine and turn instead to making immunizations against the new H1N1 virus, a version of swine flu.

But companies are on standby to make the switch if needed and their scientists have taken the first steps in developing a vaccine.

"Any decision on a strategy for development of pandemic vaccines will depend on recommendations from the WHO," the London-based agency said in a statement.

Deciding when, or indeed whether, to switch capacity from producing seasonal vaccines will not be easy.

Even with government and company scientists working flat out, it is likely to take four to six months before initial doses of vaccine are available, according to the agency.

What is more, switching limited vaccine-making capacity to pandemic production will mean the partial or even complete loss of normal seasonal vaccine supply.