H1N1 vaccine production to begin

Meriden (WTNH) - A Meriden company is expected to begin production of a vaccine to fight the H1N1 virus, otherwise known as the swine flu.

With the H1N1 flu now a global pandemic, Protein Sciences Corporation starts producing a vaccine today. It still needs to go through clinical trials, but the company's CEO says a vaccine could be ready in six weeks.

"We expect to turn out about 100,000 doses this week. That might not seem like a lot, but if you think about protecting first line responders and researchers, it starts to add up," said CEO, Daniel Adams.

Protein Sciences has been working on an H1N1 vaccine for weeks. So have other labs - but other labs need to get a shipment of the live virus to make a vaccine.

"We use insect cells, which don't require a live flu virus, so right after H1N1 came around, the CDC published the sequence - the genetic sequence - of the virus on their website," Adams said.

And Protein Sciences got right to work.

Since then, H1N1 has become a global pandemic with around 30,000 cases worldwide and close to 150 deaths so far. The pharmaceutical industry is racing to develop a vaccine, both to save lives and to be the first to offer a drug to countries desperate for help. Last week Swiss giant Novartis claimed to be winning that race with an announcement it was already producing a vaccine.

"If you read it carefully, you'll see that the vaccine is only suitable for animal tests, and they said they are "considering" using it in humans," Adams said.

Adams says his lab will have a vaccine first, finishing human trials by mid July. The question is, will there still be demand for it?

"Do I believe it's going to peter out? I haven't got a clue. We don't know enough about flu to know whether it's going to peter out or become something like the 1918 virus," he said.

Here in Connecticut, cases of H1N1 do keep coming. The third death in Connecticut related to the swine flu was reported Monday.