ID Biomedical will be able to provide 1.2 mil. additional doses of its flu vaccine Fluviral for this flu season, CEO Tony Holler said Dec. 6.

"As of today, we are not certain what will ultimately happen with respect to the 1.2 mil. doses that we have made available," Holler told investors on a call concerning the company's new distribution agreements for Fluviral with Henry Schein, AmerisourceBergen and McKesson.

"We are in discussions with both Health Canada…and the U.S. Health & Human Services on the availability of our excess supply from this year," Holler said. Canada, ID Biomedical's largest flu vaccine customer, is also experiencing a flu vaccine shortage, Holler said.

The U.K.'s Medicines & Healthcare products Regulatory Agency suspended Chiron's license to manufacture Fluvirin Oct. 5 due to manufacturing problems at the company's Liverpool facility, eliminating almost half of the U.S.' 2005 flu vaccine supply (¹ Also see "Chiron To Meet With U.K. Regulatory Authorities On Fluvirin Suspension" - Pink Sheet, 5 October, 2005.).

HHS is expected to announce its decision concerning the use of excess foreign flu vaccine doses in the U.S. as early as Dec. 7.

FDA has been reviewing foreign flu manufacturing facilities to determine whether 5 mil. to 6 mil. excess doses of flu vaccine approved for foreign markets can be used in the U.S. under investigational new drug status (² Also see "Excess Foreign Flu Vaccine Supply Could Add 6 Mil. Doses To U.S." - Pink Sheet, 17 November, 2004.).

The company would likely receive a higher price for Fluviral from the U.S., Holler said.

"Although we have been approached by the U.S. government to negotiate on price and we don't know where that would end up, it's pretty clear that prices in the U.S. are higher than in Canada," he said.

However, Holler indicated, the potential for increased revenue does not necessarily mean ID Biomedical will supply Fluviral to the U.S.

The increased revenue from selling to the U.S. is "obviously a one-time issue we need to balance off versus the fact that the Canadian government is our biggest partner," he said.

Supplying vaccine to the Canadian government is important to the company "just even on the basis of good will," ID Biomedical President Todd Patrick said.

-Andrew Kasper

ID Biomedical Has 1.2 Mil. Extra Doses Of Fluviral For This Season

More from Archive

More from Pink Sheet