European drug regulators recommended Baxter’s Celvapan vaccine against H1N1 flu for approval and said that it was hoping to get a licence from the European Commission (EU) soon.
 
The recommendation came soon after its expert committee on new drugs also gave its backing to the first H1N1 swine flu vaccines from GlaxoSmithKline and Novartis called Pandemrix and Focetria.
 
Governments and manufacturers have been fighting for vaccines to target the new H1N1 strain ahead of a new wave of infection as the northern hemisphere heads into winter.
 
Baxter vaccine is a non-adjuvanted vaccine which means that it does not contain adjuvants to enhance response. It was submitted for approval under the fast-track program.
 
U.S. drug authorities have shown a preference for vaccines without adjuvants and the five vaccines approved for the U.S.
 
The World Health Organisation (WHO) said that drugmakers would only be able to produce H1N1 vaccine every year for half of the world’s population which comes to 3 billion doses per year.
 
A single dose would be enough to provide immunity to adults and older children to the virus which is more commonly known as swine flu.
 
"Clinical trials in adults and in children are ongoing, and more results will become available from mid-October 2009 onwards," it said in a statement.