Stockpiling Anti-Flu Drug Urged

WASHINGTON – Fears of bird flu are receding and sales of the anti- flu drug Tamiflu have slumped. Now its maker is offering a deal to U.S. employers: Pay an annual fee and reserve enough to protect every worker if a new super-flu strikes.

The plan announced Thursday comes as the federal government begins a new effort to encourage businesses to stockpile anti-flu drugs in case of a pandemic. Those private stockpiles would supplement a national stockpile that contains enough doses to treat only a fraction of the population.

But stockpiling is a big upfront investment for a threat that might never arrive – and requires replacing supplies whenever drug doses expire. Roche Holding AG says its new plan would remove some of those barriers for companies otherwise interested.

The government, in an unusual move, congratulated Roche on the program and helped publicize it.

“We applaud them,” said Tevi Troy, the deputy secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services. “Preparedness is a shared responsibility that extends across all levels of government and all levels of society.”

It would take months to custom-brew a vaccine against a new super- flu. So the government has stockpiled enough antiviral drugs, mostly Tamiflu, to treat 50 million people and is urging states to purchase enough for 31 million more.

Roche already has sold varying amounts of Tamiflu to more than 300 U.S. businesses, said George Abercrombie, the chief executive of Hoffman-La Roche Inc.

Originally published by Associated Press.

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