October 31, 2005

Roche now selecting partners for Tamiflu production

Talks are under way with companies to set up a global manufacturing network to increase production capacity for anti-flu drug Tamiflu "as soon as possible," said Swiss drug-maker Roche.

Roche, which owns the patent for Tamiflu, has received more than 100 requests from companies seeking licences to make the drug, said Jan Van Koeveringe, head of Roche Global Technical Operations.

However, an applicant company has to be able to "add substantial capacity" to Roche's global supply chain before a collaboration can occur, said Van Koeveringe.

The selection process will take two weeks, after which Roche would decide which partners it would work with.

Roche has been under pressure to increase output of Tamiflu, even though it has doubled its capacity to make Tamiflu annually over the past four years.

As it is, the company is already in talks with a Taiwanese firm and has recently inaugurated the company's first major production plant on China.