Roche cuts back Tamiflu Production

[Treyfish]

Roche says Tamiflu capacity outstrips demand
BASEL, Switzerland (Reuters) -- Swiss-based Roche said on Thursday it was cutting production of influenza drug Tamiflu, seen as one of the best defenses against a possible bird flu pandemic, because supply now exceeds demand.

The pharmaceutical group said it had increased capacity to more than 400 million treatments a year and that supply now significantly outstrips orders with signs of slowing sales to governments wanting to prepare for any outbreak.

The cutback would not affect Roche's expectations for sales of Tamiflu for stockpiling, at between 800 million Swiss francs ($665 million) to 1.2 billion francs in 2007, said William Burns, head of the company's pharmaceuticals unit.

"Our guidance for the year is unchanged," Burns told reporters. "This is not a new signal on the sales outlook for Tamiflu."

Roche said the expansion of capacity meant it could now satisfy "significant additional orders" from governments and companies for Tamiflu.

Roche certificates, its most widely traded form of equity, were 0.8 percent lower at 231.60 francs by 0921 GMT.

The World Health Organization (WHO) and some countries have been stockpiling the drug in case the H5N1 bird flu strain, now mainly affecting poultry, mutates and begins to spread quickly among humans.

Roche will maintain its stock of intermediates and active pharmaceutical ingredients, so it would be ready to gear up to full production capacity if needed.

Sales to governments in the first quarter were slower than in the previous three months and Eugene Tierney, head of specialist sales at Roche's drugs unit, said that was the first indication of a tail off in government orders and demand.

The Basel-based company has so far received orders from governments amounting to about 215 million treatments. By Sam Cage

This story appeared in Reuters UK.:tiphat:
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[Commonground]

Roche questions world's flu pandemic readiness

Roche questions world's flu pandemic readiness

Swiss pharmaceutical firm Roche has criticized the world's governments for failing to stockpile enough of its antiviral drug Tamiflu to fight an influenza pandemic, Swiss Radio International (SRI) reported on Friday.
Roche head of pharmaceuticals, William Burns, said government orders for the drug had tailed off in the first quarter of this year despite the company boosting production capacity.
"Capacity constraint is no longer the issue, the issue is demand and how prepared do governments want to be. We can't just keep building inventory with nobody as a customer," Burns was quoted by SRI as saying.
"We have seen in the last two years that most world governmentshave moved a long way from where they started. But we believe there is still a long way to go...in terms of meeting treatment preparedness...that could dramatically reduce death rates," he said.
According to SRI, Roche currently has the capacity to produce 400 million treatments a year but will cut production in line with a reducing demand that currently stands at 215 million courses ordered by governments.
"Out of a population of 6 billion on the planet that is rather modest," Burns said.
Roche increased its Tamiflu production capacity at the end of last year after coming under international pressure. It has also granted licenses to companies in China, India and South Africa to produce the drug locally.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has recently reiterated its warning that an outbreak of a new form of influenza -- possibly from a mutation of the bird flu virus -- affecting humans was "overdue" and confirmed that Tamiflu was one crucial part of its plans to meet the threat.
The UN agency now has a Tamiflu stockpile of 3 million treatment courses or 30 million capsules.
Source: Xinhua
http://english.people.com.cn/200704/28/eng20070428_370555.html