Anti-flu drug ready to go into mass production

Taiwan will produce enough of the avian flu relief medicine Tamiflu for 2 million patients before next March, said Su Ih-jen (蘇益仁), the director of the national Vaccine Center under the National Health Research Institute said during a press conference yesterday.

In a briefing to Premier Frank Hsieh (謝長廷), who visited the institute in Chunan (竹南), Miaoli County, Su said the institute, which has succeeded in synthesizing the drug, has transfered the necessary technology to produce shikimic acid, the vital ingredient in Tamiflu, to a local company that will begin mass production.

license agreement

The government is also discussing a licensing agreement with Swiss pharmaceutical giant Roche, the manufacturer of Tamiflu, for domestic production of the drug.

Su did not say whether permission from Roche has been received to produce the drug in Taiwan.

According to Su, the Vaccine Center has also succeeded in developing the technology to produce a vaccine against avian flu and will be capable of manufacturing more than 100,000 doses of the vaccine in a matter of weeks if an epidemic of avian flu breaks out.

cooperation

Meanwhile, a Department of Health official said yesterday that the US and Hungary are willing to cooperate with other countries in the development of flu vaccines.

Lee Jih-heng (李志恆), director of the department's office on new flu controls, made the remarks after reporting on an avian and pandemic influenza preparedness and response meeting held during the APEC forum in Australia last week. Lee represented the department at the meeting.

He noted that a US delegate pointed out in the meeting that the US welcomes other nations taking part in the research and development of new flu vaccines, but the idea is only tentative.

The participants unanimously said that no country should let down their guard against avian flu and should stockpile the anti-viral drug Tamiflu.

The Australian government has also decided to donate 50,000 courses of Tamiflu to Vietnam, becoming the second country in the Asia-Pacific region to do so after Taiwan.

biotechnology

In addition, Lee said that a Hungarian ministerial official visited the department a day earlier, hoping to bring about bilateral cooperation in research and development of vaccines in biotechnology and pharmaceuticals.

Hungary announced recently the successful development of a new avian flu vaccine.