June 12 (Bloomberg) -- Novartis AG has completed production of the first batch of swine flu vaccine weeks ahead of time as its cell-based method proved faster than an egg-based approach.

The 10-liter (2.6 gallons) batch of wild-type H1N1 vaccine will be used for pre-clinical tests and is being considered for use in human trials, Basel, Switzerland-based Novartis said in an e-mailed statement today. Based on the results with the wild- type vaccine, Novartis expects to gain approval for manufacture with reassortant seed in the fall.

Novartis has more than 30 requests from governments to supply them with H1N1 vaccine ingredients. The virus known as swine flu, causing mostly mild disease outbreaks on four continents, prompted the World Health Organization yesterday to declare the first influenza pandemic since 1968.

To contact the reporter on this story: Angela Cullen in Frankfurt at acullen8@bloomberg.net;

Last Updated: June 12, 2009 01:15 EDT