Drugmakers Rush to Produce a Swine Flu Vaccine

Some companies have agreed to help. GlaxoSmithKline PLC offered to donate 50 million doses of pandemic vaccine to WHO for distribution to developing countries.

During the bird flu crisis, Sanofi-Aventis promised WHO about 60 million doses based on the H5N1 strain. WHO is now talking with Sanofi to switch some or all of those vaccines over to swine flu doses.

Because more than 95 percent of flu vaccines are still made in eggs, experts say the Novartis announcement is unlikely to significantly boost the world's pandemic vaccine supply.

But the news pushed up Novartis shares by 4.4 percent to close at 45 Swiss francs ($41.84) on the Zurich exchange Friday.

WHO and nongovernment organizations like Oxfam are continuing to ask drugmakers to make some of their pandemic vaccines available for poorer countries at a cheaper price, as well as asking donor countries and organizations to pay for the doses.

But in a pandemic situation, WHO's attempts to secure vaccine for the poor and even the contracts countries have signed with drugmakers may make little difference to who actually gets the vaccine, some experts say.

In previous pandemics, vaccines have never left the country where they are made before all of that country's own needs have been met.

"WHO can say whatever it wishes, but pharmaceutical companies will take their marching orders from the politicians," said David Fedson, a vaccines expert and former professor of medicine at the University of Virginia.

"Do you think any doses of vaccine made in France, Germany, the Czech Republic or anywhere will be allowed out to go to other countries just because there's a contract?" Fedson said.

Ultimately, Fedson said health officials and politicians will have to deal with a limited amount of vaccine for the billions worldwide who want it. "There's a lot of dirtiness in vaccine politics," he said. "We may try our best, but we won't succeed in doing what's necessary."