Novartis Defies WHO, Will Not Give Away Swine Flu Vaccine To Poor

A Swiss drug company will not be helping out the poor when it comes to the swine flu, defying the World Health Organization.

Novartis believes that developing nations or donor nations should foot the bill for any future vaccines for the swine flu to poor countries. Novartis is considering to reduce the cost to poorer nations but not give the vaccine away for free. Financial Times reports:

“If you want to make production sustainable, you have to create financial incentives,” said Daniel Vasella, Novartis chief executive.

That sentiment is in direct violation of WHO's director Margaret Chan's request that vaccine makers show 'solidarity' in making sure that the poorest nations would have the vaccine for their citizens. Vasella said that a 'significant' amount of the H1N1 vaccine stock has already been reserved by governments. There will be shortages even in the wealthiest nations who can afford to spend $10 to $15 a dose. The United States has already reserved $289 million of the yet to be approved vaccine from Chiron. Chiron is owned by Novartis and is the first drug company to say that they have completed trial H1N1 vaccine batches. GlaxoSmithKline, Sanofi-Aventis, Solvay and US specialty manufacturer Baxter International are also working on vaccines to deal with the possible global need this fall. GlaxoSmithKline has agreed to give 50 million doses for free to poor nations.