Roche restricts Tamiflu sales in China
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Swiss drug maker Roche Holding AG has stopped selling its bird flu drug Tamiflu in China and is instead sending all supplies to the health ministry.
The move follows similar temporary suspensions by Roche of Tamiflu supplies to pharmacies in the United States, Canada and Hong Kong to head off hoarding by consumers worried about the spread of bird flu as the world heads into the start of the influenza season.
“The immediate distribution of anti-viral resources to affected areas during the time of a pandemic outbreak is crucial for the prevention of the spread of the disease,” Shanghai Roche said in a statement sent to Reuters on Tuesday.
“The government is in the best position to handle rapid response and distribution during such time,” it said, adding that external sales of Tamiflu in China had stopped on Nov. 1.
Governments around the world are rushing to stockpile Tamiflu in preparation for a feared bird flu pandemic if the virus begins spreading easily from person to person. The drug does not cure bird flu but can reduce its severity and might slow the spread of a pandemic.
China, which has not reported any human cases of bird flu, has asked for international help to double check whether the virus recently killed a 12-year-old girl in the province of Hunan and made two others sick.
China has reported four outbreaks of the virus in birds in the past month and has culled six million birds.
Roche also said that it had received an application from Shanghai Pharmaceutical Group Co. Ltd. to produce Tamiflu in China.
“Roche will enter into discussion about a possible sub-license only with those third parties who have proven with the answers to the technical feasibility questionnaire that they are capable of producing substantial amounts of medicine for emergency pandemic use,” it said.
Bird flu has killed more than 60 people in Asia and infected at least 123 since late 2003. In almost every case, the virus appears to have been transmitted to humans through contact with birds.
Experts say the virus must be stopped in poultry to prevent more people catching it. Nowhere is that fight more crucial than in densely populated Asia, where farmers and some city dwellers live side-by-side with poultry and other livestock.
Scientists fear the virus could mutate and spark an outbreak in humans, triggering a pandemic that may kill millions of people.
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