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Pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) has confirmed that it has signed a new agreement with the government to provide its pandemic influenza vaccine in the event of a flu pandemic hitting the UK.

In a separate statement the Department of Health revealed that it had also signed a similar agreement with Baxter Healthcare, with the two advanced supply contracts worth a total £155.4 million over a four-year period.

Under the terms of the agreements both companies have pledged to supply a pandemic influenza vaccine as soon as a pandemic flu strain is identified and made available by the World Health Organisation (WHO).

An influenza pandemic occurs when a new flu virus emerges which people have no immunity to. There were three global influenza pandemics during the 20th century, the most renowned being the so-called Spanish flu outbreak which is thought to have killed at least 40 million people between 1918 and 1919.

GSK, which has already signed contracts to supply pandemic vaccines to the Swiss, Danish and Icelandic governments, said its latest agreement with the UK underlined its support of ministerial plans to protect against such a disaster.

"GSK believes that securing a pandemic vaccine supply is an important step towards full pandemic preparedness and ultimately the protection of the British public," said Andrew Witty, president of GSK Pharmaceuticals Europe.

The president of Baxter's vaccines business, Kim Bush, added that her company was also "proud" to provide the necessary technology and manufacturing capability to try and protect the UK population in the event of a flu pandemic.

Meanwhile health minister Dawn Primarolo said the new contracts meant the UK was "on the front-foot" should such a pandemic occur.

"We take the potential threat posed by pandemic flu very seriously and as the WHO has recognised, the UK is among the best prepared countries in the world," she stressed.

However the government has warned that in the event of a flu pandemic breaking out there would be "a time lag of some months" before the necessary vaccine was available due to the complexity of the process for producing it.