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LONDON: Chinese pharmaceutical company Sinovac said today it has produced a vaccine for the swine flu virus which works after one dose.

Clinical trials have produced "positive" results, said Sinovac, the latest company to announce progress in making a vaccine against the A(H1N1) virus ahead of an expected second wave as the northern hemisphere winter approaches.” The analysis of the clinical trial results showed that the A (H1N1) vaccine developed by Sinovac induces good immunogenicity after one dose," it said.

The clinical trials began last month and were completed on August 15 in Beijing, with some 1,614 participants aged three and over.” After receiving one shot of the vaccine, no participant exhibited any sign of severe adverse reactions," it said. If any, the adverse reactions were "all mild and transient, with pain at the site of injection as the most common symptom," it added.

Sinovac chief Weidong Yin said the company plans to take the next steps in bringing the vaccine to market "as soon as possible," while fully ensuring "the safety and immunogenicity of the vaccine”.

British pharmaceuticals group GlaxoSmithKline also said last week that it had begun clinical trials in Germany of a vaccine to combat the swine flu pandemic, with results expected from next month.