Firm gears up to make bird flu vaccine

DRUG giant GlaxoSmithKline is set to announce this week that it could produce millions of doses of vaccine within four months of the declaration of a bird flu pandemic.

It is understood the company could take up to a month to form the strain of virus needed to create a vaccine, and a further three to four months to make it available.

Glaxo will make the announcement on Thursday when it posts results for the third quarter of its financial year, according to weekend reports.