Geneva - Novartis, the Swiss drug maker, has started shipping the seasonal influenza vaccine Fluvirin to the US ahead of schedule, saying Wednesday it anticipated the swine flu pandemic would increased demand for doses.

The US market will receive some 30 million doses of the Fluvirin vaccine, the company said in a statement, adding that the early delivery will allow for an expedited completion of seasonal flu vaccination campaigns.

"Our next goal will be to bring an (A)H1N1 influenza vaccine for public health use as soon as possible," said Andrin Oswald, the chief executive officer for Novartis Vaccines and Diagnostics, using the technical term for swine flu.

The Swiss pharmaceutical is one of several developing a vaccine for the new pandemic virus. It began clinical testing late last month.

The World Health Organization (WHO) expects swine flu vaccine doses to be available in the northern hemisphere this autumn.

"With the (A)H1N1 influenza pandemic underway, it is important that we take every possible precaution to help protect US citizens from all circulating strains of influenza," Oswald said on the seasonal flu vaccine delivery.

According to US health authorities, an estimated 36,000 people in the country die each year from seasonal flu and another 200,000 are hospitalized. Worldwide, about half a million people die from the common flu.

Swine flu, while spreading rapidly across the world - with at least 162,380 cases of infection since the spring - has a mostly mild virulence, though 1,154 people have died, according to the latest available statistics from the WHO.