FDA clears 3 firms to ship flu vaccines

With the flu season approaching, three drugmakers have been given the clearance to begin shipping vaccines.

Novartis Vaccines, GlaxoSmithKline and Sanofi Pasteur were each given the greenlight by the Food and Drug Administration to distribute this season's vaccine. Novartis plans to release about 40 million doses of Fluvirin; GSK plans on supplying 30 million combined doses of its FluLaval and Fluarix; and Sanofi Pasteur is set to begin releasing 70 million doses of Fluzone.

Glaxo has operations in the Philadelphia region; Sanofi-Aventis' Sanofi Pasteur division is the world's biggest vaccines manufacturer and has operations in Swiftwater, Monroe County.    - Christopher K. Hepp