Scientist seeks quicker Tamiflu

A Nobel laureate has devised a new way to make the anti-flu drug Tamiflu that is simpler and quicker than the process employed to produce it right now.

Elias Corey's hope is that his novel approach will mean the drug is cheaper to manufacture and more plentiful.

It took him just a few minutes to work out the method while relaxing at home one weekend, the US researcher says.
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Of course, transferring a process from the sheltered environment of the university lab to the reality of an industrial site is not easy, and Professor Corey accepts that. But the catalyst that makes the whole approach possible is almost identical to one already widely used to make the asthma treatment Advair - one of GlaxoSmithKline's top selling products.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/4978634.stm

Avian Flu Virus Showing Resistance to Tamiflu

September 30, 2005

HONG KONG, Sept. 30-Scientists here are reporting that a strain of the H5N1 avian flu virus is showing resistance to Tamiflu (oseltamivir), the antiviral many health organizations and governments are stockpiling to protect against a potential pandemic.

Tamiflu is proving less effective against the H5N1 strain that surfaced in northern Vietnam earlier this year, Hong Kong scientists reported. The greatest number of human deaths from avian flu have occurred in Vietnam since the start of the outbreak in 2003.

They also reported that general resistance to the drug is growing in Japan, where Tamiflu is prescribed routinely for common human influenzas. Thus far, H5N1 has been detected only in poultry in Japan.

In light of this bad news, public health experts are now calling on pharmaceutical manufacturers to rev up production of an alternative antiviral Relenza (zanamivir).
http://www.medpagetoday.com/PublicHealthPolicy/PublicHealth/tb1/1850

Tamiflu, an export opportunity for domestic drug cos

Tuesday, Dec 20, 2005

Export opportunities are knocking at the doors of generic drug companies in India, as more countries prepare for a possible outbreak of bird-flu.

Queries are coming in from South-East Asian and African countries and some developed markets for generic versions of Tamiflu, the medicine known to mitigate the effects of bird-flu, an official with the Chemicals and Fertilisers Ministry told Business Line.

(snip)

Cipla's Joint Managing Director, Mr Amar Lulla, confirmed that the company had received queries from overseas markets. The company would look at manufacture and export when an agreement formalises in countries where the Gilead-Roche combine does not have a patent.

(snip)
Ranbaxy's Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director, Dr Brian Tempest, had indicated in a statement earlier this month that the company was prepared to meet the needs of the US healthcare system and was willing to partner with organisations, including the innovator, to meet this public health challenge.

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2005/12/20/stories/2005122001790300.htm

Germany is one of the few countries stockpiling large quantities of Relenza as an alternative to Tamiflu. Its order, for 1.7m units, reportedly exceeded the global sales of the drug for the past four years.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/birdflu/story/0,,1595868,00.html