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A Hungarian company has been claiming it has developed a vaccine against bird flu, however it has not sought regulatory approval from the EU. The Hungarian government has approved sale of the drug, however, the certification documentation is not public because it contains ‘protected information’.

The Hungarian government contributed $9.8m to develop the vaccine, but according to Bloomberg.com, opposition politicians are pushing for an inquiry, and scientists at Hungary’s National Epidemiology Center stated they might have been hasty in declaring it ready for market.

What’s more, the company that developed the drug is owned by an obscure company in Cyprus and the main sales representative is a dodgy Iraqi businessman with no experience selling pharmaceuticals who was previous investigated in connection with a missing shipment of medical aid to Iraq.

A clinical trial with 146 volunteers is now underway in Budapest, according to the article.