The Hindu Business Line : Cipla to talk to Roche on avian-flu drug

AS the fear of bird-flu spreads to more countries, Mumbai-based drug maker Cipla has said that it would talk to Roche regarding its anti-flu drug Tamiflu.

The Swiss-drug maker's anti-influenza drug Tamiflu has been in the spotlight as governments in different countries stockpiled the drug in the event of a pandemic. And Roche had been under considerable pressure on supplies, as governments feared a shortage of the drug.

The Cipla's Joint Managing Director, Mr Amar Lulla, said that his company would talk to Roche Holding AG to make a generic version of Tamiflu. He said the onus would be on Roche regarding what sort of a licence it would issue.

`Roche willing to give licence': This development comes on the heels of Roche saying on Tuesday that it was willing to give Cipla a production licence for Tamiflu. Agency reports from Zurich quoted Roche officials as saying that they were open to talks with Cipla on the issue.

The Cipla chief, Dr Yusuf Hamied, had earlier told Business Line that his company would have generic versions of the drug by December-January.

However, he clearly indicated that Cipla would not be interested in overrunning Roche's patent in markets where it is valid. Further, Mr Lulla said that no Government had approached it as yet for generic versions of Tamiflu.

Meanwhile, Roche officials in India said that they had applied for local registration of their product with the regulatory authority.

Ten tables of Tamiflu sell at $ 60 in the US, at £30 in England, said Dr Hamied in an earlier interview to the paper. Outlining the issue as a humanitarian problem, he said price is secondary to availability.

Health-workers, however, indicated that panic was resulting in medicine shortages.

Though there are concerns that the virus would mutate into a more lethal form in humans, it is not something that would happen overnight. Besides, it is only people who are in close contact with the affected birds that would be vulnerable, he added.

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