Flu vaccine production hits big snag

       Local production of the type-A (H1N1)flu vaccine has hit a major snag and could be delayed for two months due to the low vaccine virus yield, the head of the agency supervising the project says.
       "We may have to go back to square one, and this will jeopardise our efforts to fight the pandemic," said Vichai Chokewiwat, the Government Pharmaceutical Organisation chairman.
       The state-run drug firm yesterday released the yield rate of vaccine viruses cultured and grown in hen eggs.
       The virus yield was lower than targeted and the GPO had consulted the World Health Organisation on the matter, Dr Vichai said.
       He said the vaccine production project could go ahead if the GPO reduced the vaccine amount to match the virus yield.However,that would depend on the WHO, which is expected to get back with its recommendation in a few days. "We don't want tostart from scratch, but we will have to if the WHO advises us to do so," Dr Vichai said.
       The GPO's plan calls for clinical trials for the H1N1 flu vaccine to begin on Sept 4 and the vaccination programme to run from December.
       But the lower-than-expected virus yield was expected to derail the plan.
       "The virus yield matter is beyond our control," Dr Vichai said.
       Experts were looking into the cause of the low virus yield. It could stem from the quality of the imported German hen eggs and the seed virus, the natural characteristics of the new virus strain which is not easily cultured, or the vaccine production technique.
       Dr Vichai said other countries producing the H1N1 vaccine from the liveattenuated virus also faced the problem of low vaccine virus yield.