Twelve pharmaceutical companies, including Novartis, GlaxoSmithKline and Sanofi-Aventis, have received wild type virus samples of the A (H1N1) virus from the WHO on May 11, in order to produce a pandemic vaccine to protect against swine flu, which was first identified in Mexico last month. The WHO will meet on May 14 to decide if the virus is lethal enough to justify recommending production of a special vaccine.