May 17, 2006

Roche grants Tamiflu licence to African pharmaceutical company

Roche Holding has licensed Aspen Pharmacare Holdings, Africa's biggest maker of generic drugs, to make Tamiflu as defense against a potential bird flu pandemic, the Swiss-based company said Tuesday (May 16).

Roche said it would help Aspen produce and register the medicine and supply the active ingredient, oseltamivir..

Aspen planned to have the Tamiflu generic ready for sale to consumers in 12 to 18 months, said senior executive Stavros Nicolaou.

The World Health Organisation and governments around the world have been stockpiling Tamiflu as a preventive treatment.

While Roche is capable of meeting existing orders from African governments by early 2007, the collaboration with Aspen would further enhance the supply of oseltamivir for Africa, said Roche. The agreement also allows Roche and other companies that had licensed the drug to fill orders in Africa.

The deal develops local capacity to respond in the event of an outbreak, Nicolaou said. An absence of local producers at the time of an outbreak would have been disastrous, he added.

The Tamiflu generic will be produced at Aspen's plant in Port Elizabeth, he said. The plant last year became the first to win FDA approval to produce generic Aids drugs for African nations.

Aspen has agreements to make copies of Aids drugs made by companies such as GlaxoSmithKline, Gilead Sciences and Bristol-Myers Squibb for distribution in African countries. The company is the main supplier of these drugs and other medicines, such as painkillers and cold remedies, to South African state hospitals.