October 28, 2005

Taiwan announces Tamiflu production plans again
 

Taiwan will produce large quantities of the anti-influenza drug Tamiflu to help combat a possible bird flu outbreak, even as it negotiates with Swiss patent holder Roche Holding AB (RHHBY), the island's premier said Thursday.

Premier Frank Hsieh said production to supply 2.3 million people, or 10 percent of the island's population, would begin in December and take about one month.

He said plans were underway to import three tonnes of necessary raw materials to begin the manufacturing process.

On Monday, Li Jih-heng of the Department of Health said Taiwan had no plans to begin Tamiflu manufacture because it had not yet received permission from Roche.

In comments Thursday however, Hsieh indicated that production would go forward even as discussions with Roche proceeded.

"We will continue to negotiate with Roche and hope to obtain its authorization for producing the drug," he said.

Taiwan's state-funded National Health Research Institute said last month it was able to make Tamiflu.

Roche has said that making Tamiflu involves a very complex process and that a company given a license to make a generic copy would need at least two to three years to ramp up production.