Sanofi Pasteur, MedImmune lead H1N1 vaccine suppliers in U.S.

Four companies have FDA licenses to manufacture swine influenza A (H1N1) vaccine for U.S. distribution, but the vast majority of the vaccine distributed to date in the U.S. has been manufactured by two companies, MedImmune LLC and Sanofi Pasteur S.A., according to data provided to BioCentury by the manufacturers and public statements from government officials. HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius on Wednesday said the U.S. government has received 23 million doses of H1N1 vaccine since Oct. 5. At least 21 million of these doses have been produced by Sanofi Pasteur or MedImmune.

Sanofi Pasteur, the vaccines division of sanofi-aventis Group (Euronext:SAN; NYSE:SNY), shipped 12 million doses of its inactivated H1N1 vaccine through Oct. 23, spokesperson Donna Cary told BioCentury. MedImmune, a subsidiary of AstraZeneca plc (LSE:AZN; NYSE:AZN) had shipped 9 million doses of its live, attenuated H1N1 vaccine as of Oct. 27, company spokesperson Karen Lancaster said. ...