Germany orders 6 million courses of flu drug
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Germany has placed an order for some 6 million courses of Roche Holding AG’s influenza drug Tamiflu to prepare for a potential outbreak of avian flu, the Swiss drugmaker said on Friday.
Germany is one of many countries to place orders for Tamiflu, the antiviral drug which the World Health Organisation recommends countries stockpile in case the H5N1 bird flu virus spreads.
“So far it is six million and discussions are still going on and it is not yet finalised,” a spokeswoman for Roche in Basel said.
Roche said in July over 25 governments around the world had placed orders for Tamiflu, or oseltamivir, swelling sales of the drug which is more commonly used as a treatment for regular flu. The H5N1 bird flu virus has killed 62 people since late 2003 and is affecting flocks from Vietnam to Kazakhstan.
Although it is not yet easily transmitted from birds to humans or from person to person, experts fear it will acquire this ability and cause a worldwide disaster.
Researchers said on Thursday that another drug in the class of neuraminidase inhibitors, Relenza, should be stockpiled in addition to Tamiflu. Relenza, an inhaled medicine, is made by GlaxoSmithKline.
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