HINI VACCINE READY TO BE SHIPPED

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 6 (Bernama) -- The Influenza A(H1N1) vaccine is ready to
be shipped to countries that have placed orders for it including Malaysia, said
GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) medical director Dr Pim Kon.

However, Dr Pim declined to reveal the exact date when the vaccine would
arrive in Malaysia saying that it was up to the government to announce it.

"I am very delighted to say that we are ready to ship the vaccine this week
and the governments concerned can prepare to iniate their vaccination
programmes," she said from the United Kingdom during the Pandemic Flu Global
Media Teleconference that was organised by the company's Malaysian affiliate at
a hotel here Monday.

She said the company was manufacturing nearly 291 milion doses for
distribution world-wide including 50 million doses to be donated to the World
Health Organisation (WHO).

GSK, a pharmaceutical company with its headquarters in the United Kingdom,
had been requested by governments and public health authorities from around the
world, including WHO, to develop and manufacture a vaccine in the aftermath of
the Influenza A (H1N1) outbreak in Mexico last April.

Malaysia has ordered 400,000 doses of the vaccine worth some RM14 million
(about US$4.1 million) with the initial batch of 40,000 doses expected to arrive
in the fourth quarter of the year.
-- BERNAMA