U.S. to have 127 million flu-vaccine doses

By Matthew Bigg

ATLANTA (Reuters) - The United States is expected to have at least 127 million flu-vaccine doses on hand for this year's influenza season -- the most ever, companies told the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Thursday.

Sanofi Pasteur, the vaccine unit of Sanofi-Aventis, said it would have 50 million doses. Novartis AG said it would have 40 million doses, GlaxoSmithKline Plc said it would have 30 million to 35 million doses and MedImmune said it would provide 7 million doses.

An Australian vaccine maker, CSL Ltd., said it could provide some vaccine as well, if it got approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

The CDC and other health officials are eager to increase the share of Americans who get vaccines each year against seasonal influenza, which kills about 36,000 people in an average U.S. flu season and puts 200,000 into the hospital.

Officials are also wary of the potential for an influenza pandemic, such as bird flu. They are trying to encourage companies to boost their capacity to make influenza vaccines for the U.S. market.

But making flu vaccines uses old and risky technology involving chicken eggs and months of incubation, and few companies want to make them. Batches must be mixed up fresh every year to match the various flu viruses that are circulating because they mutate every year.

"We are trying to make a vaccine to be prepared for an epidemic of influenza ... but we don't know which strains are in the epidemic, we don't know how virulent those strains will be and we don't know when the epidemic will peak," said Dr. Jeanne Santoli of CDC's immunization program.

The supply can also be wiped out easily -- as in 2004, when the United States lost half its flu vaccine supply when a British-based maker suffered contamination and was shut down for a year.