Complain about a product or service

Drug Maker Ups Capacity To Produce Tamiflu

March 16, 2006

Bird Flu • FDA Gains Insight to Bird Flu Virus • New Flu Bug Proves Resistant to Antiviral Drugs • Report: Nation Not Ready For Flu Pandemic • Antiviral Overuse Could Aid Deadly Flu • 1918 Flu Virus Offers Clues to Prevent Pandemics • Scientists Report Progress Toward Bird Flu 'Cure' • Bird Flu Not the Only Animal Disease Threat • Bird Flu Vaccine Trials 'Encouraging' • FDA Frets about Flu Drugs' Side Effects • World Not Ready For Bird Flu • Researchers: Bird Flu Pandemic Inevitable • Bird Flu Scare in Virginia • FDA Issues Flu Vaccine Guidelines • FDA Approves First Bird Flu Vaccine • More Flu Bugs Show Resistance To Anti-Virals • Seasonal Flu Shot Might Offer Some Bird Flu Protection • Experts Concerned about Tamiflu Overuse • Study Finds Much Bird Flu Planning is Misplaced • U.S. Orders More Bird Flu Vaccine • Scientists Identify Genetic Changes That Could Lead to Bird Flu Pandemic • Drug Interaction Can Render Tamiflu Ineffective • New Bird Flu Variant Renews Pandemic Concerns • Researchers Find New Weapon Against Flu Virus • Researchers Test Spreadability of Bird Flu Viruses to Humans • GlaxoSmithKline Claims Bird Flu Breaththrough • Global Corporations Struggle to Plan For Pandemic • Flu Pandemic Is "Inevitable," EU Experts Warn • Bird Flu Virus May Have Mutated In Indonesian Cases • Indonesian Nurse May Have Bird Flu • Study Warns of "Chaos" and "Panic" If Bird Flu Strikes • Investigators Find No Evidence Bird Flu Virus Has Mutated • Scientists Fear Bird Flu Virus May Have Mutated • Airlines Queasy About Quarantining Bird Flu Victims • More ...

Pharmaceutical manufacturer Roche says it has further expanded its global manufacturing network for the production of Tamiflu, an antiviral drug that may be effective in helping humans cope with the effect of the bird flu.

By the end of this year, Roche predicts it will have the capacity to produce up to 400 million treatments annually. That's an increase of more than 30 percent.

Tamiflu is expected to be in exceedingly high demand should the bird flu virus mutate so that humans can transmit it to other humans, creating a pandemic. Currently humans can only get the disease from infected birds, but 50 percent of the people who get the virus die.

Roche said its global network for the manufacture of Tamiflu will include several Roche sites and more than 15 external contractors located in 9 different countries around the world. These production partners have been selected primarily on the basis of their ability to produce substantial quantities of intermediates and finished materials in accordance with Roche's quality standards in a relatively short time frame.

Albemarle, Ampac Fine Chemicals LLC, API Corporation, Clariant, DSM, FIS, Martek Biosciences Corporation, Novasep/Dynamit Nobel, PHT International, PPG Industries, Sanofi-Aventis, Shaanxi Jiahe Phytochem Co and Siegfried Ltd are amongst the companies that will be involved in contributing to the overall production of Tamiflu.

Roche also disclosed it is in final stage of negotiations for a sublicense with a company in China. Roche said it is also evaluating sharing of expertise in order to enable production in Africa. This is in addition to sub-licenses for the complete production of oseltamivir that were granted to Hetero and Shanghai Pharmaceuticals last year.

Report Your Experience
If you've had a bad experience -- or a good one -- with a consumer product or service, we'd like to hear about it. All complaints are reviewed by class action attorneys and are considered for publication on our site. Knowledge is power! Help spread the word. File your consumer report now.

Share		Follow us on Twitter.