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Sanofi to deliver swine flu vaccine in October

PARIS — Sanofi-Aventis SA will begin delivering the first doses of its new swine flu vaccine in the United States by mid-October, the head of France’s largest pharmaceutical company said on Monday.

In an interview with French daily Le Figaro, Chris Viehbacher said deliveries of the vaccine in France could begin by late November, after approval by European drug regulators.

Viehbacher said Sanofi-Aventis will be able to produce at least 800 million doses of the vaccine per year.

Last week the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the new swine flu vaccine, a long-anticipated step as the U.S. government works to start mass vaccinations next month.

The vaccine is being made by CSL Ltd. of Australia, Switzerland’s Novartis Vaccines, Maryland-based MedImmune LLC and Sanofi Pasteur of France — which produces flu shots at its Swiftwater, Pennsylvania, factory.

London-based GlaxoSmithKline also was expected to supply vaccine.

The U.S. has ordered 195 million doses but may order more if there’s enough demand. Typically fewer than 100 million Americans seek flu vaccine every year, and it’s unclear whether swine flu — what scientists prefer to call the 2009 H1N1 strain — will prompt much more demand.