Pressure Rises on Producer of a Flu Drug for its Generic Version

11 October, 2005

Roche, the maker of the main drug that would be used against a possible bird flu epidemic, is under growing pressure to allow production of generic versions of the medicine, with a senior Taiwanese official saying that his country could begin manufacturing it in a couple months if it receives permission.

But the company and some outside experts say production of the drug, Tamiflu, is so complex and time-consuming that even generic makers could not quickly expand global supplies.

Those putting pressure on Roche, a Swiss company, include the head of the United Nations and health officials in some nations. They are asking whether the health of hundreds of millions of people should depend on the efficiency and productivity of a single corporation.

Kofi Annan, the secretary general of the United Nations, raised the issue last Thursday during a little-noticed visit to the Geneva headquarters of the World Health Organization, a United Nations agency. Mr. Annan stopped short of calling for compulsory licensing by Roche, but spoke broadly about the need to make sure intellectual property did not get in the way of ensuring the availability not only of Tamiflu but also of vaccines at prices that poor people could afford.

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