Roche increased production of Tamiflu

Roche Holding AG has announced that it will increase Tamiflu pharmaceutical production to 300 million doses per year from now until 2007, to meet the needs of preparing for pandemic influenza.

Roche said this level of productivity is 10 times higher than in 2004. " The needs of patients with pandemic outbreaks are still our top priority ," said its CEO, William M. Burns. determined.

Tamiflu's orders suddenly skyrocketed after doctors believed that the anti-bird and anti-bird medicine if taken immediately within 2 days showed the first pathological manifestation. The drug becomes more and more valuable when there is no bird flu vaccine in humans.

Earlier, the World Health Organization (WHO) warned governments to stock up on regular antiviral and flu vaccines in humans for at least 25% of the population. With this goal, Roche - the only Tamiflu supplier in the world - is not enough to meet demand. The international community requires the company to loosen its control over drug production, even though the license is more than 10 years away.

Recently, Roche has received requests from more than 150 governments and companies to support production. Suggestions include licensing the production of a gene version of Tamiflu (at a lower cost) or participating in part-time production support. The company said that it has started negotiating with 8 pharmaceutical companies in the world, Taiwan and Vietnam authorities. Potential partner selection results will be announced later this month.

My Linh ( according to AP )