Baxter works with WHO on vaccine to curb swine flu

Baxter International Inc., based in Deerfield, Illinois, confirmed that it is working with the World Health Organisation (WHO) on a potential vaccine to control the deadly swine flu virus in Mexico and the US.

Baxter has worked with the US and foreign countries in the past to develop vaccines for the H5N1 virus commonly known as bird flu.

Baxter spokesman Christopher Bona said upon learning about the swine flu outbreak in Mexico, the company requested a virus sample from WHO to do laboratory testing for potentially developing an experimental vaccine.

As of Sunday (Apr 26), Baxter would not say whether the US or other countries have contacted the company to develop a stockpile against swine flu. Other companies, too, develop vaccines and have been used to stockpile vaccines.

The effort to ensure a safe vaccine supply and an adequate number of manufacturers has taken on greater importance in recent years.

As it is still early in the swine flu vaccine development process, Baxter could not estimate when a vaccine might be ready.