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March 18, 2002

U.S. IMMUNIZATION NEWS

"MedImmune's Pain-Free Ambitions"

Washington Post (www.washingtonpost.com) (03/18/02) P. E1; Chea, Terence

Gaithersburg, Md.-based MedImmune is hoping that a new experimental vaccine called FluMist will help it to grow even more.  FluMist is made by Mountain View, Calif.-based Aviron, which was taken over earlier this year by MedImmune.  The vaccine is currently being reviewed by the Food and Drug Administration, which is expected to make its decision sometime within the next four months.  If the product is approved, it would become the first vaccine delivered as a nasal spray.  However, approval is not a certainty, as last year an FDA advisory panel refused to approve the drug.  The drug was found to be very effective during patient trials, but members of the advisory panel questioned the product's safety and wanted to see more information on the vaccine.  For that reason, some analysts doubt the vaccine will gain approval this year, and even if it does, they do not believe it will be a commercial success.

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