Indonesia backs away from vax threat; Glaxo wins Synflorix OK;

Vaccine Market

Last week Indonesia's controversial health minister was back in the spotlight after threatening to end vaccine programs against meningitis, mumps and other diseases out of fear that pharma companies were using the country as a testing ground. Later, though, government officials backed away from those remarks, suggesting that the comments were taken out of context. The vaccination programs, they say, will continue. Health Minister Siti Fadilah Supari has made a habit of outrageous remarks, demanding proof at one point that vaccines work and also refusing to share bird flu viruses killing Indonesians. Report

GlaxoSmithKline has won European approval for its pediatric vaccine Synflorix just two months after it gained the backing of the EMEA. Release

Health officials say that two batches of Novartis meningitis C vaccine which had been recalled in Britain were determined to be safe. Story

Nearly 85 percent of 11 and 12-year-old girls in Northern Ireland have had the cervical cancer jab. Report

Researchers at CSIRO have made a breakthrough in understanding how the deadly Hendra virus can spread among horses and make a leap to humans. Story

Vaccine Research

An experimental vaccine was rushed to a German scientist who accidentally pricked herself with a needle used to infect animals with the lethal Ebola virus. And she appears to be out of danger. Report

India's Cadila Pharmaceuticals has formed a joint venture with U.S.-based Novavax to develop and commercialize Novavax's VLP-based vaccine and Cadila's therapeutic vaccine candidates against cancer as well as its adjuvants, biogeneric and biological diagnostic products for the Indian territory. Cadila also made a badly-needed equity investment in Novavax. Report

Vaccine developer FluGen has gained the rights to a vaccine delivery technology sold by the device company Ratio. Story