In indigenous swine flu vaccine is far from ready but India has given the green signal to two foreign pharmaceutical giants to begin human trials of their vaccine in the country. According to the health ministry, India has already placed orders for more than one million doses of swine flu vaccines from GSK and Novartis. But before that is administered, the government wants to ensure that the vaccines are absolutely safe.

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Novartis Vaccines has started shipping the first of 30 million doses of its Fluvirin® seasonal influenza vaccine to the US. The shipping has started weeks ahead of schedule. The vaccine indicated for patients aged four years and over will be used to help meet the anticipated increase in demand for the seasonal vaccine as a result of the current global (A) H1N1 swine flu pandemic.

A recent study has concluded that the Novartis Meningitis B vaccine, in its investigational stage, may be the first to protect infants six months and older against multiple strains of potentially deadly meningococcal B bacteria. Almost all of the infants (six to 12 months old) enrolled in the study gave a positive and fast response to it.. The meningococcal B strains are one of the major causes of bacterial meningitis throughout the world. Novartis MenB vaccine contains multiple bacterial surface proteins (antigens) that are believed to be found in most meningococcal B strains.

New Phase III data released by Novartis Pharmaceuticals showed that its under-development vaccine against four types of meningococcal strains produces a better antibody response than a commonly used existing vaccine. New Phase III data for Menveo® (MenACWY-CRM) depicts that the vaccine produced a greater immune response against meningococcal strains A, C, W-135 and Y in adolescents aged between 11 and 18 years, as compared to Sanofi Pasteur’s Menactra®. Infection with any of these four vaccine-preventable serogroups (strains) can lead to bacterial meningitis, an infection of the membrane around the brain and spinal cord, or sepsis, a serious infection of the blood stream.

Novartis has opened a new research institute in Siena, Italy. The Novartis Vaccines Institute for Global Health (NVGH) has a nonprofit mission of developing vaccines for diseases prevalent in developing countries. The institute aims at addressing the unmet vaccine needs of developing nations by researching new vaccines specifically for these countries.