Drug firms play waiting game for vaccine

With a vaccine months away and no one drug proving really effective in halting the spread of the new strain of A(H1N1) influenza, pharmaceutical companies in China can only prepare for mass production of a remedy.

A seed stock is being prepared for distribution by the Unites States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, reported Xinhua News Agency recently, while Yin Weidong, president of Sinovac Biotech, a leading vaccine developer based in Beijing, said he expected it this month.

"We could begin production three days after receiving it, according to Chinese regulations, and finish the production in four months," he said, adding that his firm's maximum daily output could be used to immunize 40,000 residents.