TOKYO, Oct 6 (Reuters) - The Japanese government said on Tuesday it would buy enough H1N1 flu vaccine from British drug maker GlaxoSmithKline (GSK.L) and Switzerland's Novartis (NOVN.VX) to treat nearly 50 million people.

The government said last week it would secure enough to treat a total of 77 million people by the end of March next year, with Japanese makers producing enough vaccine to treat 27 million people. It added that it would start importing vaccine from around the end of December or January.

Experts predict that a third of the global population - 2 billion people - will eventually be infected with H1N1, which was first seen in March in California and Mexico.

The World Health Organization said in late August that the new H1N1 swine flu had reached epidemic levels in Japan, signalling the early start to what may be a long influenza season this year. [ID:nN28366771]

The health ministry said in a statement on Tuesday that the government had reached a deal with the two foreign makers, with a contract totalling 112.6 billion yen ($1.26 billion). It did not specify how much it would buy from each of the two companies.

A Japanese newspaper, the Asahi Shimbum, reported last month that the government would spend about a total of 100 billion yen to buy enough vaccine for 35 million people from GlaxoSmithKline and for another 12 million people from Novartis. [ID:nLB571112]

Talks on the purchases have been delayed due to liability concerns, with the foreign makers asking to get immunity from responsibility in case of any side effects from vaccination.

The government now plans to submit a bill to parliament so that it could pay compensation to patients who suffer from any side effects of imported vaccine or pay lawsuit-related costs on behalf of foreign makers.

Tokyo, which has set aside 138 billion yen in budgetary spending to buy H1N1 flu vaccines, plans to start administering vaccines from the week of Oct. 19, with priority given to medical staff, high risk groups such as children, pregnant women and those with underlying medical problems, including diabetes and respiratory illnesses.

At home, four Japanese makers will produce H1N1 flu vaccine: Denka Seiken Co., Ltd, the Research Foundation for Microbial Diseases of Osaka University, the Kitasato Institute, and Kaketsuken (The Chemo-Sero-Therapeutic Research Institute).

Three of them will start shipping the H1N1 flu vaccine from Friday, the health ministry said, to be ready for vaccination staring later this month. In Japan, one will need to pay a fixed cost of 6,150 yen ($69.06) to get two vaccination shots. ($1=89.04 Yen) (Editing by Simon Jessop)

Source : Thomson Reuters