Bayer AG, Germany's biggest drugmaker, promised to supply enough of the antibiotic Cipro to treat cases of the deadly anthrax infection and confirmed it's in talks with the US government about delivering the drug.
Demand has soared for Cipro, the most powerful treatment available for anthrax, as the bacteria has been found across the US. Eight anthrax cases have been confirmed in recent weeks in Florida, New York and New Jersey, with one fatality.
Bayer is discussing selling another 100 million Cipro tablets to the Health and Human Services Department, to boost US stockpiles, which are now enough to treat 2 million people, officials said. Canada agreed yesterday to buy a generic version of Cipro for half the price Bayer charges the US government, a move Bayer officials said violates patent law.
"The first and foremost responsibility we have is the adequate supply of Cipro to the American public and the US government," Helge Wehmeier, chief executive of Bayer Corp, the company's US unit, told reporters on a conference call. "We have the ability to fully, fully supply the needed product, and we stand ready to supply any need wherever it is."
All the US exposures so far have involved infections that can be easily treated with a full range of antibiotics. This week, the Food and Drug Administration approved two older drugs for inhaled anthrax, penicillin and doxycycline, both available in generic form.
Some regions are experiencing shortages of Cipro, especially where anthrax has been found, said Wolfgang Plischke, president of Bayer's North American pharmaceutical division. The company has shipped 50 million pellets in the past two weeks, about a quarter of a typical year's production, targeting the areas of greatest need, such as New York, Washington and Florida.
Cipro has had "the highest increase of demand for a pharmaceutical ever in history," Plischke said. "Our people are working here seven days a week, 24 hours a day."
Bayer objects to Canada ignoring its Cipro patent, given that the company can deliver 200 million tablets in the next three months, and hopes to resolve the matter amicably, he said.
The company has tripled production of Cipro, which normally sees US$1 billion in sales annually, Wehmeier said. The 60-day treatment for anthrax involves five days of Cipro, two tablets per day, followed by other antibiotics.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique