Chiron Corp

Chiron Corp. on Monday once again lowered flu-vaccine delivery estimates because of production delays at its troubled factory in Britain. Chiron's announcement came as the biotechnology company shipped 1.5 million doses from its factory in Liverpool -- the first since the plant was shut by regulators last year. Chiron was forced to scrap its entire production of 52 million doses a year ago after bacteria were found in some batches of vaccine. The company, based in Emeryville, Calif.

Chiron Corp. said it would begin shipping about 1.5 million flu shots within days after federal regulators approved three of the biotechnology firm's "batches" of vaccines. Chiron has been crippled this year by plunging profit and surging expenses resulting from a vaccine debacle last year, when problems at its British production facility kept it from delivering any of its Fluvirin flu vaccine to the United States. Chiron had been slated to supply about half the nation's vaccine.

Chiron Corp.'s stock continued to climb Tuesday as investors bet that the recently troubled biotechnology company would remain a takeover target despite its rejection of a $4.5-billion bid by Swiss pharmaceutical giant Novartis. Shares of Emeryville, Calif.-based Chiron gained 72 cents to $43.51. Tuesday's trading was investors' first chance to respond to Chiron's Labor Day rebuff of Novartis' $40-a-share bid to buy the third-oldest U.S. biotechnology company, behind Amgen Inc.

Chiron Corp., a U.S. vaccine maker recovering from a manufacturing shutdown, rejected Novartis' $4.5-billion cash offer as "inadequate" as Chiron's flu treatment moves closer to returning to the U.S. market. Novartis' $40-a-share bid was unsolicited, although the companies have talked about mergers and other transactions, Chiron said Monday in a statement. Novartis, which owns 42.2% of Emeryville, Calif.-based Chiron, offered to buy the rest Thursday to add treatments for flu and cancer.

Novartis' proposed $4.5-billion buyout of Chiron Corp. undervalues the U.S. vaccine producer, Chiron shareholders said in a lawsuit filed against company directors. Novartis of Switzerland, the world's fourth-largest drug maker, offered $40 a share for the 58% of Chiron it doesn't already own, about a 10% premium at the time, Emeryville, Calif.-based Chiron said Thursday. The acquisition would give Novartis access to a potential $10.4-billion vaccine market by 2007, Lehman Bros. analysts said.

The consolidation of the drug industry continued Thursday as Swiss drug maker Novartis bid $4.5 billion for the shares of Chiron Corp. that it doesn't already own. Novartis offered $40 a share for 58% of Emeryville, Calif.-based Chiron, which is struggling to relaunch its U.S. flu vaccine business. Investors drove Chiron's shares up nearly 18% to $42.93, signaling that Novartis might have to sweeten its bid. Chiron said its board would evaluate the offer.

The supply outlook for flu vaccine this year improved Wednesday as two manufacturers cleared crucial regulatory hurdles. Chiron Corp.'s troubled factory in England passed a key Food and Drug Administration inspection, putting the company on track to return to the U.S. market. British pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline, meanwhile, received FDA approval to sell its flu shots in the U.S. for the first time. Taken together, the developments eased worries about a severe vaccine shortage.

Beleaguered biotechnology company Chiron Corp., still smarting from two high-profile failures to deliver flu vaccines in the United States and Europe, essentially broke even in the second quarter and badly missed Wall Street expectations, the company reported Wednesday.

The outlook for Chiron Corp.'s flu vaccine business worsened Wednesday when the company said it would ship no vaccine from a troubled German factory. The announcement came five days after Chiron slashed production at the Marburg plant after finding bacteria in some vaccine. On Wall Street, the latest round of bad news fueled uncertainty about Chiron's ability to supply vaccine to the United States.

Chiron Corp., the company responsible for last year's flu vaccine shortage, said Friday that it would not ship 8 million doses slated for non-U.S. markets because of another bacterial contamination incident, this time at a German factory. The Emeryville, Calif.-based company also disclosed that it would need additional approvals before shipping vaccine to the U.S. from its factory in Liverpool, England. Analysts said this meant deliveries could be delayed until late in the flu season.