AlaskaDenise
In Memoriam
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HELEN BRANSWELL
Globe and Mail Update
<!-- dateline -->TORONTO<!-- /dateline --> ? The Public Health Agency of Canada has signed a deal to purchase 500,000 treatment units of the flu drug Relenza to be added to the federal pandemic influenza stockpile.
The agency confirmed Friday that a deal was signed this week with GlaxoSmithKline for Relenza, an alternative to the better-known flu drug Tamiflu.
Alain Desroches, a spokesman for the agency, said the purchase is another step in achieving the goal of having 5.5 million treatment courses of flu drugs in the national antiviral stockpile. The aim is to have about 90 per cent Tamiflu and 10 per cent Relenza, he said.
Mr. Desroches said that with this purchase and a pending delivery of 1.4 million treatment courses of Tamiflu, the national stockpile will hit about 5.1 million treatment courses.
?We're not there yet, but we're getting there,? Mr. Desroches said from Ottawa.
Adding Relenza to the inventory diversifies Canada's antiviral holdings, providing a hedge in case the strain of flu that causes the next pandemic develops resistance to Tamiflu. Rare cases of Tamiflu resistance have already been reported in some human cases of H5N1 avian flu.
It's an approach British experts urged that country's government to take this week. A report from the Royal Society and the Academy of Medical Sciences expressed concern that Britain has not diversified its flu drug stockpile.
?We are concerned that decisions are being made . . . that fail to take account of expert advice,? said Sir John Skehel, chair of the working group that wrote the analysis of Britain's pandemic preparedness efforts. ?For example, the decision to continue to stockpile just one antiviral drug is a major concern.?
?This needs to be reconsidered,? Sir Skehel said. ?New evidence that H5N1 can develop resistance to Tamiflu indicates that a combination of antivirals should be stockpiled by the U.K. for the most effective management of a pandemic.?
The cost of amassing Canada's national antiviral stockpile has been shared by the federal, provincial and territorial governments.
In addition to the national reserve, provinces and territories hold another 1.6 million treatment courses of Tamiflu. And several key federal agencies ? the Department of National Defence among them ? hold a combined 700,000 treatment courses of the drug.
The Relenza contract negotiated by Public Works and Government Services Canada ? the federal government's purchasing arm ? also includes another 200,000 treatment units of Relenza for other clients, Desroches said.
He said he could not name the purchasers, other than to say some were provincial governments and others were institutional clients.
.
HELEN BRANSWELL
Globe and Mail Update
<!-- dateline -->TORONTO<!-- /dateline --> ? The Public Health Agency of Canada has signed a deal to purchase 500,000 treatment units of the flu drug Relenza to be added to the federal pandemic influenza stockpile.
The agency confirmed Friday that a deal was signed this week with GlaxoSmithKline for Relenza, an alternative to the better-known flu drug Tamiflu.
Alain Desroches, a spokesman for the agency, said the purchase is another step in achieving the goal of having 5.5 million treatment courses of flu drugs in the national antiviral stockpile. The aim is to have about 90 per cent Tamiflu and 10 per cent Relenza, he said.
Mr. Desroches said that with this purchase and a pending delivery of 1.4 million treatment courses of Tamiflu, the national stockpile will hit about 5.1 million treatment courses.
?We're not there yet, but we're getting there,? Mr. Desroches said from Ottawa.
Adding Relenza to the inventory diversifies Canada's antiviral holdings, providing a hedge in case the strain of flu that causes the next pandemic develops resistance to Tamiflu. Rare cases of Tamiflu resistance have already been reported in some human cases of H5N1 avian flu.
It's an approach British experts urged that country's government to take this week. A report from the Royal Society and the Academy of Medical Sciences expressed concern that Britain has not diversified its flu drug stockpile.
?We are concerned that decisions are being made . . . that fail to take account of expert advice,? said Sir John Skehel, chair of the working group that wrote the analysis of Britain's pandemic preparedness efforts. ?For example, the decision to continue to stockpile just one antiviral drug is a major concern.?
?This needs to be reconsidered,? Sir Skehel said. ?New evidence that H5N1 can develop resistance to Tamiflu indicates that a combination of antivirals should be stockpiled by the U.K. for the most effective management of a pandemic.?
The cost of amassing Canada's national antiviral stockpile has been shared by the federal, provincial and territorial governments.
In addition to the national reserve, provinces and territories hold another 1.6 million treatment courses of Tamiflu. And several key federal agencies ? the Department of National Defence among them ? hold a combined 700,000 treatment courses of the drug.
The Relenza contract negotiated by Public Works and Government Services Canada ? the federal government's purchasing arm ? also includes another 200,000 treatment units of Relenza for other clients, Desroches said.
He said he could not name the purchasers, other than to say some were provincial governments and others were institutional clients.
.
