GSK to get flu injection
DRUGS giant GlaxoSmithKline is gearing up to make almost £1.3bn from sales of its swine flu drug treatments.
In May the UK’s largest drug firm said that it had already taken 128m orders for a vaccine, in deals worth approximately £600m, including those from the UK. But with around 50,000 cases in the UK diagnosed last week and 429 deaths worldwide, analysts now forecast sales of a vaccine to reach at least £1.3bn as concerns mount and mass immunisation is considered a possibility.
GSK already has one of the leading antiviral treatments for swine flu in Relenza, but it has also ramped up production for a new vaccine and turned two of its treatment plants into H1N1 vaccine factories to ensure it is able to deliver batches by Autumn.
CEO Andrew Witty will be quizzed on Wednesday at the interim results over sales forecasts for the vaccine.