Roche withholds Tamiflu in US to stop hoarding
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Drug maker Roche Holding AG has temporarily suspended deliveries of its Tamiflu antiviral drug to the United States in order to prevent a run on stocks by consumers fearing a pandemic caused by bird flu.
Roche said it had halted deliveries of the drug to pharmacists in the United States and Canada until the start of the flu season over concerns that consumers could deplete stocks by hoarding the drug at home.
The antiviral drug is being stockpiled by governments around the world in preparation for a feared outbreak of flu, particularly the avian flu virus H5N1. Tamiflu is a prescription drug approved for use as a treatment for seasonal flu.
Some pharmacists in European countries have recently reported a spike in sales of the drug as householders double up on government efforts to prepare for a flu pandemic.
“Roche U.S. said they would temporarily suspend deliveries of Tamiflu in the United States until there is an increased incidence of seasonal flu,” said a spokeswoman for Roche in Basel on Thursday.
H5N1 has killed more than 60 people in four countries in Asia and been found among birds in Croatia, Romania, Turkey and Russia, but no human cases have been reported in Europe.
There is no evidence yet that the disease can be transmitted easily among humans, but experts fear it is only a matter of time.
Roche traditionally books the lion’s share of Tamiflu sales in the first quarter of the year due to demand in the northern hemisphere winter months.
The U.S. decision follows a similar move by the firm’s Canadian operations on Tuesday. The division said it would restart shipments to Canada in December.
MEDIA SPOTLIGHT
Media coverage of the spread of the H5N1 strain of bird flu has driven sales, the company said.
“This resulted in increased demand for Tamiflu in part from individuals who are doing private stockpiling and at the moment there is no influenza circulating and the threat of a pandemic has not (materialized),” the spokeswoman said.
“Our priority is to ensure that Tamiflu is available for seasonal use and to fulfill government orders,” she added.
Roche’s regional units were making decisions locally as to whether to restrict the supply of the drug, she said.
“We are also asking people to act responsibly and not to privately stockpile in order to make sure it is available to those patients who really need it,” she said.
“We do not want people buying it and keeping it at home.”
Roche says the production process behind the drug is long and complicated and the World Health Organization warns it could take years to make enough of the drug to cover the number of people it estimates could be affected by a flu pandemic.
Roche has said it will enter into discussions with other companies, primarily makers of generic drugs, and with governments in developing countries over whether they can produce the drug either in part or as a whole.
Several companies and countries have said they are ready to do so. Roche has so far only confirmed that talks have begun with the Taiwanese government.
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