E-DRUG: Asia nations agree to stockpile anti-bird flu drugs
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edruggers,
The article below on the avian flu drugs may interest you. Can any one take these questions?
1. Why is GSK Relenza® (zanamivir) not also being stockpiled
2. Any studies that have established the efficacy of oseltamivir or zanamivir in symptomatic treatment of >2days old infections
3. Any studies of head-to-head comparison of oseltamivir, zanamivir, amantadine and zimantadine
Jude Nwokike
(B.Pharm, MSc.Pharmacology, MPH, MISPE)
Senior Program Associate
Rational Pharmaceutical Management, RPM Plus
Management Sciences for Health, MSH.
Office 3G Yang Tze Plaza
351 Sam Nujoma Dr., P.O.Box 90027
Klein Windhoek
Windhoek, Namibia
"jude" <jnwokike@msh.org.na>
From ip-health@lists.essential.org
Asia nations agree to stockpile anti-bird flu drugs - compulsory license possible
11 Aug 2005
[cross posted with thanks]
Robert Weissman wrote:
Though the article [below] contains the standard misstatement on potential grounds for issuance of a compulsory license, this reports on a very interesting development in Asia.
[snip]
The meeting did not take a decision on compulsory licensing, which Aldis called a "premature" option while the WHO was negotiating with Roche.
[snip]
Asia nations agree to stockpile anti-bird flu drugs
11 Aug 2005 09:00:53 GMT
Source: Reuters
By Darren Schuettler
[Copied as fair use]
BANGKOK, Aug 11 (Reuters) - A dozen Asian nations agreed on Thursday to
build a regional stockpile of anti-bird flu drugs and some governments
demanded production of cheaper generic versions of the Tamiflu antiviral
drug.
Details of the plan, which aims to race drugs to the site of a human
outbreak within 24 hours to prevent a wider global pandemic, had still
to be worked out, health ministers and U.N. officials said after a
meeting in Bangkok.
"It would be the first time in the history of mankind that a pandemic
has been stamped out before it happened," William Aldis, the World
Health Organization (WHO) representative in Thailand, told reporters.
Several Asian countries, including those hard hit by the H5N1 virus
which has killed 62 people since late 2003, have begun stockpiling
Tamiflu, made by Switzerland's Roche AG and also known as
oseltamivir. But the WHO will now work with 12 Asian countries --
including Thailand, Vietnam, China, Japan and South Korea -- to decide
how best to deliver the drugs to "burn out" a human outbreak, or at
least blunt it enough so it can be contained.
The Bangkok meeting did not decide where the regional stockpile would
be, nor did the ministers agree on a timeframe for when it would be up
and running. Those details would be worked out in consultations between the WHO and
the countries involved, which also include Cambodia, Laos, Brunei,
Bhutan, Philippines, Myanmar and Malaysia.
"What we are doing here is pushing it forward in terms of the management
and logistics," Aldis said.
Scientists fear the virus, which does not pass easily between humans, could mutate to become easily transmittable and unleash a global pandemic which could kill millions.
PRESSURE ON DRUG MAKER
The threat has become more acute with the spread of bird flu to Russian Siberia and Kazakhstan. It has killed only waterfowl and poultry there, but raised fears it could spread to Europe.
"We are all very much aware of the potential of this pandemic and yet the reality is we only have one drug company that manufactures this antiviral drug," said Philippine Health Secretary Francisco Duque.
"I think its incumbent on us to exert pressure to open this up for more manufacturers to increase production," said Duque, whose country does not have a stockpile of the drug.
Tamiflu costs about $3 per capsule in the Philippines and a course of treatment requires 10 doses. Aldis said the cost per dose can drop to $1.70 if bought in bulk, and further if bought in powder form.
Developing countries with pharmaceutical factors can issue a compulsory licence to make generic copies of patented drugs in the event of a medical emergency.
Thailand, which has stockpiled enough Tamiflu to treat 22,000 patients and another 20,000 doses of influenza vaccine, said in March it may consider producing a generic version of the drug.
The meeting did not take a decision on compulsory licensing, which Aldis called a "premature" option while the WHO was negotiating with Roche.
"We're well aware of the issue of oseltamivir supply and production and it's being worked out," he said.