Flu Vaccine Shortage Prompts U.S. Probe

Chiron Corp. said it had received a grand jury subpoena from federal prosecutors in New York seeking materials on its Fluvirin influenza vaccine and its regulatory problems in Britain.

The Emeryville, Calif.-based company said it would cooperate with the investigation but offered no other details. Federal officials declined to comment.

Legal experts speculated that the government could be looking for evidence that the company misled regulators or investors about its ability to provide its vaccine this year.

The grand jury subpoena was issued by the U.S. attorney's office in Manhattan, which is known for its high-profile Wall Street probes and its successful prosecutions of lifestyle entrepreneur Martha Stewart and investment banker Frank Quattrone.

The Oct. 5 shutdown of Chiron's Liverpool factory by British regulators eliminated almost half of this country's expected vaccine supply for the coming flu season and prompted U.S. health officials to ask healthy adults not to get shots this year.

The officials said they were working with another vaccine supplier, French drug maker Aventis Pasteur, to allocate 22.4 million unshipped doses of its flu shots to the most vulnerable groups in the U.S. population, including babies, the elderly and residents of nursing homes, veterans hospitals and long-term care facilities. But details were sketchy.

"This plan will help ensure that vaccine gets to those people who need it most," said Julie Gerberding, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. "This is a troubling, frustrating situation for all of us, and we need for all Americans to pull together in the weeks to come to meet this challenge head-on."

Aventis Pasteur is asking customers to accept smaller shipments so it can divert more flu shots to public-health efforts, said Damian Braga, president of the firm's U.S. division.

Health officials said that during the next six to eight weeks, they would deliver about 14.2 million vaccine doses made by Aventis Pasteur to healthcare providers that treat high-risk groups. They plan to stockpile an additional 8.2 million doses for use later in the flu season.