April 28, 2009

Roche can ramp up Tamiflu production quickly if needed

Roche Holding AG has the key ingredients in place to quickly ramp up production of its antiviral drug Tamiflu, which may help contain the damage of the spreading swine flu virus, a company spokeswoman said Monday (April 27).

Roche's Tamiflu drug appears to be effective in the deadly new flu strain that emerged in Mexico, the World Health Organization said.

Roche, based in Basel, so far hasn't yet received any new big orders for its drug.

Such orders will also hinge on how the WHO classifies the new flu outbreak, spokeswoman Martina Rupp said.