GlaxoSmithKline PLC (GSK) is the first company to get the go ahead from the European Commission (EC) for a wide spectrum vaccine to protect humans ahead of a possible future bird flu pandemic. The company will market its pre-pandemic vaccine Prepandrix in all 27 member states of the European Union (EU). Although Prepandrix has only just received its first regulatory approval, countries such as the US, Switzerland and Finland have already started stockpiling the vaccine, sales of which last year topped £102 million.

In the clinical trials being conducted by Iomai Corp., patients were showed to be effectively protected from the bird flu disease by a single dose of the company’s vaccine, along with a skin patch. According to the company, 73% of the patients participating in the trial demonstrated sufficient immune response to the disease.