EMERVILLE, Calif., Oct 12, 2004 (United Press International via COMTEX) -- Chiron Corp. in Emerville, Calif., said Tuesday it received a grand jury subpoena requesting information on Fluvirin.

The drug-maker also said the subpoena is requesting information about the suspension of its license to manufacture the flu-virus vaccine in the United Kingdom.

The suspension, and subsequent shutdown of a Chiron plant last week in England, has slashed supplies across the United States.

Chiron said it received the subpoena Monday from the U.S. attorney's office for the Southern District of New York. Chiron said it intends to cooperate fully with the investigation.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was notified by Chiron a week ago that no Fluvirin would be available for the U.S. for the 2004-2005 flu season. As a result, CDC has urged private clinics and physicians to inoculate only high-risk groups.

Chiron told the CDC that the medicines and healthcare products regulatory agency in Britain had suspended Chiron's license to manufacture the vaccine in the Liverpool facility for three months. The CDC said that will reduce by about half the expected supply of flu shots available in the United States for the current flu season.

The only other supply of vaccine expected to be available is about 54 million doses of Fluzone manufactured by Aventis Pasteur Inc., a unit of Sanofi-Aventis, the CDC said.

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