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About PANFLU.1
In response to the global outbreak of the H1N1 virus in April 2009, Sinovac immediately began preparatory activities for the development of a vaccine. Sinovac began production of the vaccine in June, after it received the virus strain necessary for production. The Company completed its clinical trials in August 2009 and received its production license from the SFDA in September 2009.
Current situation of Pandemic (H1N1) 2009
On June 11, 2009, The World Health Organization (WHO) raised its pandemic alert to the highest level of six, formally declaring that the widely spreading A/H1N1 influenza has developed into a global pandemic.
As of 17 October 2009, worldwide there have been more than 414,000 laboratory confirmed cases of pandemic influenza H1N1 2009 and nearly 5000 deaths reported to WHO.
As many countries have stopped counting individual cases, particularly of milder illness, the case count is significantly lower than the actually number of cases that have occurred. WHO is actively monitoring the progress of the pandemic through frequent consultations with the WHO Regional Offices and member states and through monitoring of multiple sources of data.
New Activity:
Mongolia, Rwanda, and Sao Tome and Principe have reported pandemic influenza cases for the first time this week.
Iceland, Sudan, and Trinidad and Tobago reported their first fatal cases.
Current status of Pandemic influenza vaccines
Regulatory authorities have licensed pandemic vaccines in Australia, China and the United States, soon to be followed by Japan and several countries in Europe. The length of the approval process depends on factors such as each country's regulatory pathway, the type of vaccine being licensed, and the stage of manufacturers' readiness to submit appropriate information to regulatory authorities.
Production capacity
In May 2009, WHO estimated that, in a best case scenario, worldwide production capacity for pandemic vaccines would be approximately 5 billion doses per year. Since then, better information on production yield and appropriate vaccine formulation has become available, resulting in the current estimate for 3 billion doses per year. While this figure is lower than previously projected, clinical trials data demonstrated that a single dose of the vaccine will be sufficient to confer protective immunity in healthy adults and older children. This effectively doubles the number of people who can be protected with current supplies.
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