Baxter completes first batch of Swine Flu vaccine

Baxter International Inc. said it completed production of its first batches of swine flu vaccine, which it plans to sell outside the U.S. to slow the spread of the first pandemic in decades.

The first batches of the vaccine, called Celvapan A/H1N1, were completed in July with Baxter's process of growing the virus in cell cultures instead of the typical method using chicken eggs, the Deerfield-based company said today in a statement.

Baxter has contracts for 80 million doses of the swine flu vaccine with five countries outside the U.S., and has stopped taking new orders that it may not be able to fill, Baxter Chief Executive Officer Robert Parkinson Jr. said in a conference call July 16. Tests will begin this month to evaluate safety and effectiveness in adults, Baxter said today.

"We are pleased with our company's ability to meet its expected timelines," said Joy Amundson, corporate vice president and president of Baxter's BioScience unit, in the statement. "This is an encouraging validation of our science."

The U.S. has contracts with five companies for about 182 million doses of an H1N1 vaccine using the egg-based production method, according to the Biomedical Advanced Research Development Authority, the U.S. agency in charge of buying the vaccine. About 20 million doses of antigen, the key ingredient in the shot, have already been produced under those contracts.