TORONTO - Drug giant AstraZeneca is hoping to bring its needle-free flu vaccine to Canada.
The company says it has applied to Health Canada for a licence to sell the vaccine FluMist in this country.
FluMist, which is made of weakened live flu viruses, is administered by way of a nasal spray.
In the United States, where FluMist has been on the market for a number of years, the vaccine is licensed for use in children and adults aged two years to 49 years.
Marc Zarenda, AstraZeneca Canada's scientific director for oncology and infection, says the company's licence submission included data from 73 clinical trials involving 141,000 participants.
He says the company hopes to be able to sell FluMist in Canada for the 2010-11 flu season, but the timing of the licensing process rests with Health Canada.
