The German states and swine flu vaccine manufacturer GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) agreed to cancel their orders because the public demand could not materialize.

50 million doses were ordered in July 2009 by individual German states after the epidemic hit the country. However, the pandemic spread more slowly than expected and the demand of the vaccine was much lower than ordered.

Another factor that contributed in the cancellation of the order was that one dose was sufficient to shield from the dreaded virus instead of the two that were initially recommended.

The states have been forced to cancel the order of the excess vaccine doses which they have tried to sell to other European countries.

GSK said that the calling off of the order has been done in a spirit of partnership in an effort to find a fair and constructive solution.

None of the parties revealed the details of the deal since the approval of the relevant ministers and government bodies is still pending.

The French government has also followed suit and cancelled the delivery of 50 million doses of the 94 million which were ordered from the pharmaceutical company Sanofi-Pasteur.