GSK gets orders for 440 million vaccine doses

Twenty-two governments have ordered 149 million svine flu vaccine doses since the last figures issued by the company on August 4.

British drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline said Tuesday it had orders for 440 million doses of its swine flu vaccine ahead of the northern hemisphere's winter that could bring a second wave of the virus.

Twenty-two governments have ordered 149 million doses since the last figures issued by the company on August 4.

GlaxoSmithKline announced on September 30 that it would begin shipping its swine flu vaccine Pandemrix across Europe this week.

The European Commission last week cleared Pandemrix and another vaccine, Focetria, for distribution in Europe. Focetria is produced by Swiss pharmaceuticals group Novartis.