Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications
Sunday, Feb 19, 2006
Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications Sunday, Feb 19, 2006 |
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Industry & Economy
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Health Bird flu: No human infection reported so far, says Health Secy Our Bureau
New Delhi , Feb. 18 EVEN as the laboratory at Bhopal confirmed the presence of the deadly H5N1 virus causing avian influenza in dead poultry in Maharashtra, the Health Ministry today said that so far no human infection have been reported. Emerging after a meeting chaired by the Cabinet Secretary, Mr B.K Chaturvedi, the Health Secretary, Mr P.K. Hota said, "So far there has been no evidence of human infection." A team has been sent to Maharashtra to monitor the development. However, samples from five human beings would also be sent for testing. The Government has further said that about three lakh birds within 3 km radius around the region would be culled and a safety zone covering 54 farms would be created. The Government will bear 50 per cent of the loss incurred by the poultry farm owners. Moreover 10 lakh birds are in the safety zone and 7.5 lakh vaccines would be sent. The spread of the deadly virus has caused panic but the crucial issue is the availability of the drug Tamiflu (oseltamivir), which is marketed by Roche. Hetero Drugs, Cipla, Ranbaxy sounded: In India, three companies — Cipla Ltd, Ranbaxy Laboratories and Hetero Drugs — have indicated their preparedness to manufacture the drug. While the Government had placed an order for one million doses with Hetero Drugs, Cipla too has received marketing approval from the Drug Controller General of India to market the generic version of the drug. The company said that it would be releasing its version of Tamiflu in a week's time. A 10-capsule strip will be retailed for Rs 1,000. A Ranbaxy spokesperson, meanwhile, said that the company is getting ready with the active pharmaceutical ingredient (API). The Health Ministry had earlier indicated that it would stockpile about 10 lakh doses of the drug. However, there was confusion on whether the Government would have to invoke the compulsory licensing norm or not as Roche and Gilead Sciences had filed patents for oseltamivir in India. Though some these were granted, the remaining process and product patents were under evaluation by the Patent Office in India. Subsequently, an inter-Ministerial committee held that generic companies would be able to manufacture the drug.
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