Shanghai Pharmaceutical Group (SPG) said yesterday it has become
the first company in Asia to secure a license from Switzerland's
Roche to produce a generic form of Tamiflu, the only drug known to
be effective against H5N1 avian influenza infection in humans.
"The license will allow SPG to produce and sell the drug known
generically as oseltamivir on the Chinese mainland," SPG President
Qian Jin told a press conference.
SPG said they had the capacity to produce 200,000 treatments a
month over a six-month period.
Under the licensing agreement, the drug produced can only be
sold to the government "for pandemic use," a company statement
said.
Qian added that the drug would be priced reasonably to make it
affordable.
Tamiflu is presently sold at 298 yuan (US$36.7) for 10 capsules,
a standard five-day dosage.
William Burns, Roche's chief executive officer, was quoted in
the statement as saying that his company was "in negotiations for
local partnerships in other countries."
He said, "Following our open invitation to third parties we have
a shortlist of partners who can be ready to expand capacity beyond
300 million treatments annually by 2007," which would be a more
than tenfold increase on 2004.
SPG applied to Roche for the patent transfer on November 3 and
earlier this month, a team was sent to evaluate the firm's capacity
to produce it.
Tamiflu is in short supply as countries across the world
stockpile it for a possible bird flu pandemic. Currently, all
Tamiflu in China is imported through Shanghai Roche Pharmaceutical
Ltd.
Also on Monday, the quarantine of a village in Inner Mongolia
Autonomous Region struck by a bird flu outbreak amongst poultry was
lifted after 21 days of isolation, according to local
authorities.
No new infections have been found in Wulan Village of the Morin
Dawa Daur Autonomous Banner during the past three weeks, and
culling, disinfection and epidemiological studies have all been
conducted, according to local bird flu prevention headquarters.
So far this year, China has reported 30 outbreaks amongst birds
in 11 provinces and regions and confirmed five human cases,
including two fatalities.
(China Daily, Xinhua News Agency December 13, 2005)