Roche in talks with WHO to supply flu drug fund
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Drug maker Roche Holding AG is in talks with the World Health Organisation about creating a stockpile of flu drug Tamiflu for poorer countries to be funded by contributions from developed nations.
Governments around the world are stockpiling Tamiflu on fears of a pandemic sparked by bird flu. However, there are concerns that richer nations will take the bulk and leave worst-hit Asian nations scrambling for supplies.
Roche said on Monday it was in negotiations with the world health body about setting aside a certain proportion of its output of the drug to help ensure it reaches the most needy.
Media reports suggested this could be around 5 percent of the total amount of the antiviral drug produced, although a Roche spokeswoman said it was too early to comment on specifics.
“In terms of the percentage of capacity, that is still under discussion,” the spokeswoman said.
“We would reserve a certain proportion of our annual pandemic supply capacity and that would then be for purchase by the WHO. They would use this solidarity fund to pay for it.”
Developed nations could either donate money or a proportion of their own stockpile of the drug to the fund, for the medicine to then be redistributed to developing countries.
Bird flu has killed more than 60 people in Asia. Scientists fear the H5N1 virus will mutate into a form that passes easily among people. If it does so, millions could die.
Roche has responded to criticism over the supply of Tamiflu by increasing output and agreeing to talk to other companies and to governments about outsourcing production.
Roche has already donated 3 million courses of the drug to the WHO to be deployed where they are most needed.
Margaret Chan, the WHO’s top pandemic official, told reporters in Geneva last week that the U.N. health agency was in negotiations with Roche, but declined to give details.
“...we are in a discussion with Roche and so we need to see in what way we can have a decent discussion and talk about a reasonable price, because…this is an antiviral stockpile that supports countries that have no means to access,” Chan said.
Japan’s Chugai Pharmaceutical Co, half owned by Roche, said on Monday it has told the government that two teenage boys exhibited abnormal behaviour that led to their deaths after taking Tamiflu.
Roche said in a statement that it continued to monitor the safety of the drug and reported any adverse events to regulatory authorities.
“Tamiflu has been shown in clinical studies and in routine clinical use to have a good safety profile. Tamiflu has been used by over 30 million people worldwide,” Roche said.
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