Roche Wants To Sell Smaller Tamiflu Pills

In all sales of Tamiflu last year were £750 million...

Roche, the makers of the world famous bird flu drug Tamiflu have applied formally to the medicines regulator of the EU (EMEA) to have a special lower dose version of the drug licensed and approved for sale. The idea is that the lower dose version would be more appropriate for children. Roche also said that they would soon be opening a formal application with the FDA in the United Sates for the same purpose.

Roche said that in view of the potential dangers of a full on bird flu pandemic the EMEA have agreed to speed up the time normally required for approval of a new drug or form of a drug in the instance of this new version of Tamiflu. The EMEA have said that they hope to give a full reply as to whether the lower dose Tamiflu will be OK’ed for sale by around June 2007.

At present Tamiflu comes in 75 milligram doses and thus the drug is only licensed to be sold like that but the new application seeks to allow Tamiflu to be sold in 30 milligram and 45 milligram doses.

The new doses (as well as for children) could also be appropriate for elderly men or women who are frail or for people who would have a problem in swallowing the larger pills. Other options have been considered including having the active ingredient of Tamiflu (oseltamivir) put into a solution so that it can be easily drunk but Roche have opted for the smaller pills as they said that in view of the urgency of the situation the smaller pills would be ready more quickly.

In all sales of Tamiflu last year were £750 million and are likely to be slightly lower this year at around £400 million as many governments and individuals have now built up sufficient stockpiles of the bird flu drug.