Roche Has The Patent For The Only Known Medicine ( Tamiflu ) Against The Bird Flu Threatening Europe And Asia, But In Thailand It Is Not Patented.
This could allow the production of Tamiflu from materials brought from India. If the drug production succeeds, 100,000 people would have the means to fight bird flu. After Taiwan, Vietnam and India, Thailand is also pressuring Roche, threatening it would start generic production of Tamiflu to fight the potential outbreak of a bird flu pandemic, as the demand is escalading and stocks not able to keep pace.
Swiss based Roche has increased fourfold the production of Tamiflu but it is far from enough.
WHO (World Health Organization) recommends stocks for 25 percent of the population of countries facing bird flu threat, while current Tamiflu supply barely secures 2 percent of the world population.
Roche is currently faced with questions regarding their refusal of outsourcing production of bird flu drug despite the critical situation.
Their initial answer was that no other company had the technological means to prepare it, but after Taiwan researchers made it in just 18 days, Roche statements do not hold ground. Cipla, India-based pharmaceutical company, also managed to make a Tamiflu version.
Mongkol Jivasantikarn, managing director of the Government Pharmaceutical Organization (Thailand):
"We will begin mass production of oseltamivir at the beginning of January."
'GPO has prepared four or five recipes for comparable analysis with the original.'
'Laboratory tests will take three months, so I expect them to be completed by February 2006.'
'If there is a severe outbreak of bird flu, the GPO will be able to produce enough oseltamivir to treat 100,000 patients, which would mean producing 1.0 mln tablets within 15 days.' |
