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GlaxoSmithKline Lands H1N1 Vaccine Orders

Jeanine Poggi

While the noise surrounding the swine flu outbreak has somewhat abated, the virus still poses a threat -- and, for drug makers, a potential boom. Such is the case fo drug maker GlaxoSmithKline(GSK Quote), which announced on Friday that it has received large orders from several countries, including the U.K., France and Belgium, to stockpile a precautionary vaccination.

So far, Glaxo said it has agreed to supply 60 million doses to the U.K., 50 million to France, 12.6 million to Belgium, and 5.3 million to Finland, once it receives the key ingredient from the World Health Organization needed to make the H1N1 vaccination. The first doses of the vaccine are expected to be available four to six months after it receives the ingredient.

The swine flu has already spread to 34 countries and the WHO has reported more than 7,500 cases. "We expect this pattern of spread to continue," said Dr. Margaret Chan, the WHO's director-general on Friday, before the U.N. health agency's yearly meeting of its 193 member states. According to the WHO's pandemic alert scale, the world is currently in phase 5 of a possible 6, meaning a global flu outbreak is imminent.

A mass production of H1N1 vaccines could be good news for Glaxo, as well as other drug makers like Sanofi-Aventis(SNY Quote), Novartis(NVS Quote) and Baxter(symbol Quote) (BAX Quote), who also have the capabilities to produce the vaccine.

Shares of Glaxo were down slightly 1% to $31.82 , Baxter fell 1.4% to $49.92, Sanofi-Aventis declined 2% to $29.90 and Novartis slipped 1.7% to $39.44.