Asian nations to stockpile anti-bird flu drugs

By Darren Schuettler

BANGKOK (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.

Basel-based Roche, which said last week it was considering
donating a “substantial amount” of Tamiflu to the WHO, is in
talks to build a stockpile capable of treating a million
people.

But with rich Western nations scrambling to secure supplies
of the drug, poorer countries are demanding that production of
Tamiflu be opened up to generic manufacturers.

“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 factories can
issue a compulsory license 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.