Baxter Intl’s (NYSE: BAX) Preflucel given EU approval

Baxter International (NYSE: BAX) announced that they have been approval by a European repeat mutual recognition procedure (rMRP), at the Austrian Agency for Health and Food Safety to begin providing it’s PREFLUCEL seasonal influenza vaccine for the 2011-12 flu season.

PREFLUCEL is manufactured via a patented cellular process (“Vero”), rather than the traditional embryonated chicken egg production process.

A study recently published in The Lancet showed a 78.5 percent protective efficacy.
The Baxter International release is here

http://www.baxter.com/press_room/press_releases/2011/03_02_11_preflucel_europe.html

FluCrazy 200 - The 200 Largest Pharmaceutical Companies in the World

FluCrazy 200

Updated list for 2012 is here: 

http://flucrazy.blogspot.com/2012/03/flu-crazy-200-largest-pharmaceutical.html




2011
The 200 Largest Pharmaceutical Companies in the World

(Alphabetical Order)

Abbott Laboratories
Acrux Limited
Alexion
ALK-Abello AS
Alkermes
Allergan
Amarin Corporation plc
Amylin Pharmaceuticals
Ardea Biosciences
ARIAD Pharmaceuticals
Astellas Pharma Inc.
AstraZeneca Pharma India
Aurobindo Pharma
Auxilium
Bavarian Nordic A/S
Baxter International
Bayer
Beijing Double-Crane
Beijing Tongrentang Co
Biocon Limited
Biogen Idec
BioMarin Pharmaceutical
Boiron S.A.
Bristol-Myers Squibb
Cadila Healthcare
Celgene Corporation
Celltrion Inc
Cephalon
Chengdu Hoist
Chongqing Huapont Pharmaceutical
Chongqing Taiji Industry
Chugai Pharmaceutical
Cipla
Clinical Data Inc
Cubist Pharmaceuticals
Da An Gene Co Ltd of Sun Yat-Sen University
Daiichi Sankyo
Dainippon Sumitomo
Dendreon
Divi's Laboratories
Dong-A Pharmaceutical Co
Dr. Reddy's Laboratories
EGIS NyRt
Eisai
Eli Lilly
Emergent BioSolutions
Endo Pharmaceuticals
Enzon Pharmaceuticals
Euromayor S.A. De Inversiones
Exelixis
F. Reichelt AG
Financiere de Tubize
Forest Laboratories
Gansu Duyiwei Biological
Genomma Lab Internacional SAB de CV
Geron Corp
GlaxoSmithKline
Glenmark Pharmaceuticals
Green Cross Corp
Guangzhou Baiyunshan
Guangzhou Pharmaceutical
Guizhou Bailing Group
Guizhou Yibai
H. Lundbeck
Hainan Honz Pharmaceutical Co
Halozyme Therapeutics
Harbin Pharm Group Sanjing
Harbin Pharmaceutical
Henan Topfond Pharmaceutical
Hikma Pharmaceuticals
Hisamitsu
Hospira
Huadong Medicine Co
Hubei Biocause Pharmaceutical Co
ImmunoGen Inc
Impax Laboratories
Intermune, Inc.
IPCA Laboratories
Jazz Pharmaceuticals
Jiangsu Hengrui Medicine
Jiangsu Kanion Pharmaceutical
Jiangsu Nhwa Pharmaceutical
Jiangsu Sihuan Bioengineering
Jiangxi Jiangzhong Pharmaceutical
Jilin Aodong Medicine
Jinling Pharmaceutical
Jiuzhitang Co
Kaken Pharmaceutical
Kangmei
King Pharmaceuticals (acquired by Pfizer, Inc)
Kissei Pharmaceutical
Kobayashi Pharmaceutical Co
Krka, tovarna zdravil
Kunming Pharmaceutical
Kyorin
Kyowa Hakko Kirin
Lexicon Pharmaceuticals
LG Life Sciences
Livzon
Lupin
Max India
MaYinglong Pharmaceutical
Medicines Company
Medicis Pharmaceutical
Merck
Merck KGaA
Merro Pharmaceutical
Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma
Mochida Pharmaceutical
Momenta Pharmaceuticals
Mylan
Myriad Genetics
Nektar Therapeutics
Nichi-iko Pharmaceutical
Nippon Shinyaku Co
North China Pharmaceutical
Northeast Pharmaceutical
Novo-Nordisk
Ono Pharmaceutical
ONYX Pharmaceuticals
Opko Health Inc
Orion Oyj
Par Pharmaceutical
Perrigo
Pfizer (India)
Pfizer Inc.
Pharmasset
Pharmstandard JSC
Piramal Healthcare
PKU International
Prestige Brands Holdings
Protek OAO
PT Kalbe Farma
Qingdao Huaren Pharmaceutical
Q-Med AB
Questcor Pharmaceuticals
Ranbaxy Laboratories
Recordati
Regeneron Pharmaceuticals
Richter Gedeon Nyrt
Rohto Pharmaceutical
Salix
Sanofi-Aventis
Santen Pharmaceutical
Savient Pharmaceuticals
Sawai Pharmaceutical
Seikagaku Corp
Shandong Luoxin Pharmacy
Shanghai Fosun
Shanghai Kaibao Pharmaceutical
Shanghai Modern Pharmaceutical
Shanghai RAAS Blood Products
Shanxi Yabao Pharmaceutical
Shenzhen Accord
Shenzhen Salubris Pharmaceuticals Co
Shionogi
Shire PLC
Sichuan Kelun
SIGA Technologies
Simcere Pharmaceutical
Square Pharmaceuticals
STADA Arzneimittel
Stallergenes
Sun Pharmaceutical
Swedish Orphan Biovitrum AB
Taisho Pharmaceutical
Takeda Pharmaceutical
Targacept
Tempo Scan Pacific
Theravance
Tianjin Chase Sun Pharmaceutical
Tianjin Zhong Xin
Tibet Cheezheng Tibetan Medicine
Tibet Urban Development & Investment
Torii Pharmaceutical
Torrent Pharmaceuticals
Towa Pharmaceutical
Tsumura & Co.
TTY Biopharm
Unisplendour Guhan Group
United Therapeutics
Valeant Pharmaceuticals
Vertex
Virbac SA
ViroPharma
Vivus Inc
Watson Pharmaceuticals
Wockhardt
Xiangxue Pharmaceutical
Xinjiang Tecon Animal Husbandry Bio-Technology
YuHan Corp
Zeria Pharmaceutical
Zhangzhou Pientzehuang
Zhejiang Hisoar Pharmaceutical
Zhejiang Hisun
Zhejiang Huahai
Zhejiang Jianfeng Group
Zhejiang Medicine Co., Ltd.
Zhejiang Xianju Pharmaceutical
Zhuzhou Qianjin Pharmaceutical

Baxter (NYSE: BAX) International reports that Preflucel vaccine, using cell-based manufacturing is as effective as conventional chicken egg vaccines

Baxter International's cell-based Preflucel vaccine has been shown to be at least as effective as vaccines manufactured using the conventional method of fertilized chicken eggs.

Fox News reports "Baxter International's seasonal flu vaccine made using quicker cell-based manufacturing methods was at least as effective at preventing flu as conventional vaccines grown in chicken eggs, company researchers said on Tuesday.

They said Baxter's vaccine Preflucel prevented flu in 78.5 percent of people who got the vaccine. That compared to egg-based vaccines, which historically protect 73 percent of people who get the vaccine.

"At 78.5 percent, we certainly would not claim superiority to egg-derived vaccines, but we are at least as protective as vaccines produced by historical manufacturing process involving the use of eggs," said Dr. Noel Barrett of Baxter's Bioscience unit in Austria, whose findings were published in Lancet.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/health/2011/02/16/baxters-cell-based-flu-vaccine-effective-study-says/#ixzz1EELCJiV3

The use of cell-based methods holds the promise of quicker turnaround time in the development of seasonal flu vaccines, versus the current method.

The NY Times points out that "[using] animal cells, which are grown in enclosed steel tanks, also reduces the risk of bacterial contamination, which has led to shortages of seasonal vaccines in some years.

“I just think it’s an improvement in vaccine production that has been warranted for a long time,” said Dr. W. Paul Glezen, an influenza expert at the Baylor College of Medicine who wrote a commentary to accompany the report, which was published online Tuesday by The Lancet. “I just feel we’ve been sort of slow in implementing it.”

Dr. Glezen said shorter production times would allow health officials to wait longer before deciding which strains to include in the next winter’s flu vaccine, a decision that now has to be made around February. That would increase the chance that the strains in the vaccine match the strains in circulation."

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/16/health/research/16flu.html


The Baxter International press release is here

Excerpt:

Baxter International Inc. announced today results of a study published in this week’s issue of The Lancet that demonstrate effectiveness and tolerability of Baxter’s PREFLUCEL in protecting against seasonal influenza. The study data show nearly 80 percent protective efficacy against the influenza strains contained in the vaccine and a low adverse event profile. PREFLUCEL is manufactured using Vero cell technology, offering an innovative method of vaccine production compared to conventional embryonated chicken egg production, which has been used for decades.

UK Department of Health forced to disclose Swine Flu spending

The BBC’s Martin Rosenbaum reports that the UK Department of Health (DOH) spent £ 239 million (approx. US $ 382 million) on the swine flu vaccine last year.

The Department of Health initially resisted requests for the information with flimsy claims of commercial confidentiality. As we now know, the swine flu “pandemic” was vastly over hyped, and much of the swine flu vaccine had to be discarded (at taxpayer’s expense).

Rosenbaum reports that GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) received the lion share of the bounty for its Pandemrix vaccine, with the rest going to Baxter Int’l (BAX) for Celvapan.

Still, it wasn’t easy getting the information. At first DOH refused to respond to a freedom of information request. BBC then had to appeal to the information commissioner. As Rosenbaum points out, this “case illustrates the limits of commercial confidentiality under FOI. It shows how claims sometimes made by public authorities about possible damage to commercial interests are not necessarily strong enough grounds for refusing freedom of information requests.“

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/opensecrets/2011/02/bbc_forces_disclosure_of_swine.html