Roche sees 13 isolated cases of Tamiflu resistance

[Gert van der Hoek]

Until today 13 cases of Tamiflu resistant new H1N1 (swineflu) were reported, more reports in this thread: http://www.flutrackers.com/forum/showthread.php?t=123546


Roche sees isolated cases of Tamiflu resistance

07 Sep 2009 09:42:56 GMT

Source: Reuters

* Sees isolated cases in line with observations in studies

* Has forecast 2009 Tamiflu sales of 2 bln Swiss francs

(Adds detail)

BASEL, Switzerland, Sept 7 (Reuters) - Isolated cases of resistance to Roche Holding AG's <ROG.VX> Tamiflu are likely to occur in pandemic H1N1 swine flu, in line with what has been seen in clinical trials, a Roche executive said on Monday.
Roche said in July signs of resistance to Tamiflu are no surprise, given this happens also in seasonal flu. The drug netted sales of just over 1 billion Swiss francs ($946.1 million) in the first half and Roche expected similar in the second six months of 2009. [ID:nLM233133]

"Isolated cases of Tamiflu-resistant pandemic H1N1 2009 are expected in line with observations from the low frequency seen in clinical studies," David Reddy, Roche pandemic taskforce leader, told a media conference.

The pandemic H1N1 flu virus continues to cause widespread infection in many parts of the world but is not becoming more serious, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said on Friday.

The WHO said it had counted 2,837 deaths worldwide but noted that not every case was being counted any more. [ID:nL4442852]

Roche's Japanese subsidiary Chugai Pharmaceutical Co <4519.T> plans to boost supply of the influenza drug Tamiflu in Japan to treat an additional 12 million people through March 2010. [ID:nT323289]

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L7314194.htm

 

[Gert van der Hoek]

Re: Roche sees isolated cases of Tamiflu resistance

Re: Roche sees isolated cases of Tamiflu resistance

Roche: 13 cases of Tamiflu-resistant swine flu

By ALEXANDER G. HIGGINS (AP) ?

BASEL, Switzerland ? Swiss pharmaceutical giant Roche Holding AG said Monday that it has had reports of 13 cases of pandemic swine flu becoming resistant to Tamiflu, which it calls a very low percentage.

A good sign is that the people who had the resistant strain have not passed the disease on to other people, said David Reddy, leader of Roche's Tamiflu pandemic task force. And the resistant variety has been like the widespread version of the virus in that it typically produces only mild symptoms.

The 13 cases were scattered around the world in Europe, the United States and Asia, said Reddy.

Tamiflu, whose generic name is oseltamivir, is one of two main antivirals in the arsenal against swine flu as the world awaits the widespread availability of a vaccine against the disease.

Reddy told reporters that the low rate of resistance was in line with tests the company has conducted, which indicated that 0.32 percent of adults and 4 percent of children who took the Roche drug developed resistance to it.
Roche is keeping a close watch on the virus' interaction with the drug, one of the first defenses against the disease, he said.

Reddy told The Associated Press that it wasn't certain why the 13 patients developed the resistance while taking the drug, but that there was an indication that many were taking only half a dose.

That lower dose is what is given to people to prevent them catching the disease, said Reddy. "If they were actually infected with the virus, the dosage of the drug may have been too low."

The company is therefore recommending that doctors prescribe the treatment dose and not the prevention dose if the patient has any symptoms at all.
He said the drug was still useful as a preventive at the half-dose strength and that it could be taken for up to six weeks if used for that purpose.

William M. Burns, chief executive of the Roche pharma division, said the company was ready to crank up production of the drug to 400 million individual treatment packages if needed as the pandemic virus is expected to spread in the Northern Hemisphere this winter.

Another Roche official, Catherine Steele, said the company has been able to extend the shelf life of Tamiflu stockpiles to seven years from five, and it has also developed a way to extract the active ingredient from expiring stockpiles and reprocess them into new capsules to save money for developing countries.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5g39DlePR9XT3KpmAsClUuepPlUwwD9AIGBR04

 

[Gert van der Hoek]

Re: Roche sees 13 isolated cases of Tamiflu resistance

Looking at this thread, there seem to be more than 13 Tamiflu resistant cases of the new H1N1 (20?):

http://www.flutrackers.com/forum/showthread.php?t=123546