September 16, 2016
By Alex Keown, BioSpace.com Breaking News Staff
LONDON – Keep calm and brush on—that is if you have adequate amounts of toothpaste at your home.
Torrential downpours in England that has led to flooding south of London, has forced London-based GlaxoSmithKline to temporarily shut down a manufacturing facility that produces toothpaste and mouthwash. A GSK spokesperson told Reuters that the shutdown would be temporary, but that product distribution might be temporarily disrupted due to the work stoppage. However, once the weather cooperated, the spokesperson said the production lines would quickly return to normal and products would continue to flow.
England has been devastated by thunderstorms that have dropped about half-a-months’ worth of rain in only a few hours. The BBC reported that the rains have caused travel problems across much of the country and may have contributed to the derailment of a train. It’s the travel issues that are likely at the heart of GSK’s decision to halt production at the plant. The company wants to protect employees coming to and from work, as well as delivery truck drivers transporting the dental products to consumers.
While GSK will likely feel a small bite due to production shutdown, the company recently announced news that will surely salve the temporary injury. This week GSK announced its investigational shingles vaccine, Shingrix, showed a 90 percent efficacy in adults age 70 and over. Additionally, those adults maintained the shingles-free life for four years, the company announced. Last year, the drug demonstrated an even greater efficacy rate in patients age 50 and over. The drug a 97 percent effectiveness rating.
Another virus area the company is exploring is the increased threat of the mosquito-borne Zika virus. The company is proposing the launch of a new unit dedicated to developing vaccines for diseases like Zika and others—even if it comes at the expense of profit, Bloomberg reported. In an interview with Bloomberg, Ripley Ballou, GSK’s vice president of vaccines, said the company believes there should be “a radical rethinking of vaccine development” for vaccine development for diseases such as Zika and Ebola. Ballou said there is little financial incentive because the areas these diseases typically impact are in developing or poor regions. Ballou told Bloomberg that they intend to work with government and philanthropic agencies for potential financial backing distribution, it the vaccine unit moves forward. Some of the groups GSK could work with include the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations. That group was founded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation along with the governments of India and Norway.
