Human clinical trials for a Taiwan-produced vaccine for influenza A(H1N1) will begin in the coming week, with at least 400 people taking part, the manufacturer said Tuesday. At a meeting held by the Central Epidemics Command Center, officials of Adimmune Corp. -- Taiwan's only human vaccine manufacturer -- said the company is now producing one batch of undiluted vaccine solution from approximately 130,000 embryo eggs every two days, with 18 batches having been produced so far. Kao Sheng-kai, vice president and spokesman of Adimmune, told reporters that the results of internal quality testing conducted by the company show that the egg protein contained in the vaccine is less than 1 nanogram per milliliter, which is good news for those who are allergic to chicken eggs. The content is only 0.05 percent of the maximum level of 2 micrograms per milliliter recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO), Kao said. The level of endotoxin in the vaccine is 4 endotoxin units, also much lower than the WHO-recommended level of 100 units, he went on. The vaccine's osmotic pressure is 1.04, he continued. The closer the reading is to 1, the lower the level of pain an injection causes, he explained. The clinical trials will take place at the National Taiwan University Hospital, the Tri-Service General Hospital and the Taipei Medical University-Wan Fang Hospital. While the company had aimed to test the vaccine on 100 people over the age of 60, 150 people aged between 18 and 60, and 100 people aged 17 and below, a total of 480 participants have been accepted in anticipation of the possibility that some will drop out of the trials. The participants in the 18-60 age group will be divided into two groups, with one group provided with two shots and the other given one shot. Immunization against the new flu strain is expected to begin in late October, with healthcare workers, pregnant women, and children between 6 months and 6 years of age having been chosen as the priority recipients. In addition to 10 million doses of vaccine to be supplied by Adimmune, the Department of Health has purchased another 5 million doses from the Swiss-based pharmaceutical firm Novartis. 