Monday September 6,1999 Controversial 'flu drug launched in Europe by Jonathan Birt, European pharmaceuticals correspondent
biz.yahoo.com
LONDON, Sept 6 (Reuters) - A drug which promises to cut the length and severity of a bout of flu and could reduce the death toll caused by the virus was launched in Europe on Monday to a fanfare of excitement and controversy.
The drug, Relenza, will be available across the Continent and in the U.S. in time for the next flu season.
Its makers, Britain's Glaxo Wellcome Plc (quote from Yahoo! UK & Ireland: GLXO.L), said trials showed Relenza could cut the length of a bout of flu by up to three days if taken soon after onset, and save lives as well as the costs of thousands of lost working days.
''This is one of the most exciting drugs I've seen in my time as a clinical practitioner,'' Dr Nigel Higson, a general practitioner and virology advisor, told a press conference to launch the drug in Britain. ''It is probably comparable to the development of antibiotics in the 1940s.''
But the new therapy, which stops the 'flu virus from reproducing itself within the respiratory tract, has already run into a storm of controversy in Britain over its cost, with fears that demand could overwhelm health budgets.
Relenza is the first of a new class of drugs which inhibit an enzyme called neuraminidase that allows the 'flu virus to spread from one healthy cell to another. Glaxo's product, taken as a nasal spray, will be followed on to the market by a rival tablet from Roche Holding AG and Gilead Sciences Inc (Nasdaq:GILD - news), called Tamiflu.
Relenza is already on the market in Australia, where it was discovered by the biotech company Biota Holdings Ltd (Australia:BTA.AX - news)s , and launches in the United States, France and Germany are scheduled next month.
Because 'flu takes hold quickly, patients need to take Relenza in the first 48 hours of a bout to gain maximum benefit. Doctors will have to make greater efforts to distinguish between 'flu -- typified by rapid onset, serious muscle pain and headaches and loss of appetite -- and 'flu-like conditions including colds, which can't be helped by the drug.
In an average year, 'flu-related conditions kill up to 4,000 people in Britain and between 10,000 and 40,000 in the U.S. In the last epidemic winter in Britain, in 1989/90, flu caused 28,000 excess deaths in two months, mainly linked to pneumonia and other respiratory diseases.
Elderly people are most vulnerable. Despite the promise of Relenza and other upcoming treatments, doctors stressed vaccination remains the first line of defence against the flu.
''Prevention is better than cure -- the influenza vaccine is recommended for high risk people and all people over 75 years old,'' said Jonathan Van Tam of the University of Nottingham Medical School.
Last week the UK medical magazine Doctor claimed Relenza could cost Britain's hard-pressed national health service 115 million pounds in an epidemic year. Glaxo Wellcome claims the cost will be closer to 10 to 15 million pounds in an average year, with reduced hospitalisation and fewer lost working days offsetting the cost.
Amongst prices announced so far, the drug will cost 24 pounds ($38.47) per course in Britain, and 224 Danish crowns ($31.94) in Denmark.
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