South Korea to Push for Local Production of Bird Flu Drug
Posted on: Wednesday, 2 November 2005, 06:00 CST
Excerpt from report in English by South Korean news agency Yonhap
Seoul, 2 November: South Korea will push for local production of a Swiss-developed drug known to be the most effective treatment against avian influenza, the government said Wednesday [2 November].
The Ministry of Health and Welfare and the Korea Centre for Disease Control and Prevention said a local pharmaceutical company will take part in a proposal by Roche Holding AG to jointly produce the drug Tamiflu.
"The Swiss company has asked the government to recommend a firm that has the skills to produce Tamiflu," a government official said.
The two state bodies said Seoul will help local pharmaceutical firms bid for the joint production deal, competition for which is expected to be very high.
Demand for the antiviral drug has been soaring as countries move to stockpile it in case an outbreak of avian influenza begins to spread among the human population.
At present, the South Korean government said it has stockpiled enough Tamiflu to treat 720,000 people and aims to increase this by 1 million by next year.
In addition, the Health Ministry said assistance will also be extended to South Korean companies trying to independently develop their own drug to combat avian influenza, and will offer extended medical insurance coverage for drugs that help cure new types of influenza.
The government said it is launching a public education campaign to counter unsubstantiated concerns about the disease and to prevent a sharp drop in the consumption of poultry and eggs. It will also provide up-to-date information on the latest developments concerning the bird flu. [passage omitted]
Source: BBC Monitoring Asia Pacific
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