Novartis uses a big vaccine stick

AFP: Novartis chief warns states over cancelled vaccine orders

The head of Swiss pharmaceutical giant Novartis on Tuesday warned that governments now trying to cancel swine flu vaccine contracts might not be dealt with so swiftly in the next pandemic.

Chairman and chief executive Daniel Vasella said those that had been reliable partners would be favoured.

"The same governments that exerted a lot of pressure on the industry (...) to deliver vaccines very quickly were the same governments that then said 'we don't want any more what we ordered', once they saw they ordered too much," he told AFP.

"If you want an effective vaccine industry you have to be consequent, because the next time that there will be a pandemic -- and there will be another one -- the governments who have been reliable partners will be treated preferentially," he added.