Roche launches programme to ease Tamiflu access to developing countries
Roche is to produce and store stocks of Tamiflu (oseltamivir) for use by developing countries when the World Health Organisation (WHO) has declared an influenza pandemic.
Roche is to produce and store stocks of Tamiflu (oseltamivir) for use by developing countries when the World Health Organisation (WHO) has declared an influenza pandemic.
Under the Tamiflu Reserves Programme (TRP), Roche will produce and store Tamiflu pandemic stockpiles for specified developing countries at a significantly reduced price with the cost spread over a number of years. Roche will then ship the stockpile to the governments of countries concerned when an influenza pandemic has been announced, or in the event of a public health emergency, upon request from the governments concerned. The countries can exercise their option to purchase the product at any time.
"While we are offering this programme to the WHO for Tamiflu, it is not proprietary to Roche which gives the WHO the opportunity to apply its fundamentals to other antivirals, vaccines, as well as medical supplies," said William Burns, ceo of Roche Pharma.
The full price per pack of 10 Tamiflu capsules, excluding any local duties, taxes or tariffs, is:
Euro 5 to 6 per 75mg pack
€3 to 3.65 per 45mg pack
€2 to 2.55 per 30mg pack
Tamiflu would be stored until time of shipment by Roche under controlled conditions thus assuring quality and security. The exact price, within the ranges provided above, will be dependent upon the period of storage requested by the government or UN organisation concerned.
Qualifying countries for this programme would be members of the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI) minus India.
Roche is in discussions with agencies to establish how orders would be coordinated by a UN partner agency such as the WHO or UNICEF and potential sources of funding would be the World Bank, donor agencies, foundations and the countries themselves.
In addition to the TRP, Roche has taken several steps to address access to Tamiflu including:
Replenishment of the WHO donation of 5.65 million treatments of Tamiflu
Tiered pricing for Tamiflu distinguishing between developed and developing countries
The issuing of sub licences for the manufacturing of oseltamivir to Hetero in India, Shanghai Pharma and HEC in China, as well as a technology transfer to Aspen Pharmaceuticals in South Africa.