New U.S. pandemic plan aims to speed products

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. government proposed major changes on Thursday to the way it works with companies to fight new disease threats such as flu, including reform at the Food and Drug Administration and setting up centres to make vaccines quickly.

The report from the Health and Human Services Department said the U.S. ability to respond to new outbreaks is far too slow and it lays out a plan for helping academic researchers and biotechnology companies develop promising new drugs and vaccines.