PHARMACEUTICAL firm Novartis faces uncertainty over the plans for its swine flu vaccine after Governments reconsider their stocks.

France said it would cut 50m from its original order of 94m doses from suppliers including Novartis, Glaxo Smithkline and Sanofi-Aventis.

This follows a low take-up of the vaccine – only 5m French have so far received the treatment – a fall in the incidence of the pandemic and claims the Government over-ordered.

Spain and Germany have said they will also scale back orders, and the UK’s Department of Health said it was “in discussions with all suppliers about future deliveries”.

The UK Government has ordered 21.2m doses of vaccine and distributed 14.7m, but only 3.34m have been administered.

Swiss-owned Novartis makes the H1N1 swine flu vaccine at several European sites, including Speke, which employs 600 staff.

In it latest trading update, it admitted orders for its H5N1 bird flu vaccine had failed to achieve anticipated levels, and now there are fears its swine flu product could suffer the same fate.

Savvas Neophytou, an analyst with Liverpool broker Panmure Gordon, admitted there is a danger of a downgrade risk in forecasts for drugs firms like Novartis, but insisted the sector is unlikely to be de-rated as the flu season is still active – and he warned Governments may have jumped the gun.

“I don’t think over-capacity is a problem.”

“The incidence of swine flu slowed because children are off school. But we are in a fairly cold winter and are seeing a return of children to school which is basically when things kick off again.”

No-one at Novartis was available for comment.