Department of Health agrees deal with GSK to cancel part of swine flu vaccine order

The Department of Health in England announced that it has agreed with GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) to cap its order for the company’s swine flu (H1N1) vaccine, saving about one third of the value of the original order that it placed for enough vaccine to protect the entire UK population.

As the numbers infected with H1N1 have declined, the UK government has decided that vaccinating the whole population against the virus—as had originally been planned—is no longer necessary. It had ordered 90 million doses of swine flu vaccine—a higher rate per head than any other country in Europe.

The Department of Health has agreed to cap the order for GSK’s Pandemrix vaccine at 34.8 million doses, including those already received, rather than having to pay for the entire initial order of 60 million doses. An order for a further …