Swiss pharmaceutical company Roche announced Monday that stocks of Tamiflu, the antiviral drug used against the H5N1 bird flu strain, are now sufficient to meet demand for the upcoming northern hemisphere flu season.
The company, which markets the drug oseltamivir under the Tamiflu brand, had previously restricted distribution to wholesalers to protect supply. It has since raised annual production capacity from 300 to 400 million doses, eliminating the earlier shortage.
Governments and the World Health Organization have been stockpiling millions of doses in case H5N1, currently transmissible from birds to humans, mutates into a form that spreads easily among people. The WHO cautioned last week that the risk of such a mutation rises during the regular human flu season.
Tamiflu does not cure influenza but slows viral replication, reducing inflammation and shortening recovery time. Roche recommends the drug be given within 48 hours of symptom onset for seasonal flu, and says research is continuing to refine its use against bird flu.
Historical summary. TurkishPress restated this wire report, first published in October 2006, in its own words.