Bird Flu Watch

Dominance of H5N1 Tamiflu Resistance in Egypt

Link: Dominance of H5N1 Tamiflu Resistance in Egypt.

The WHO has said some of those who died having contracted the H5N1 virus strain showed moderate resistance to Tamiflu, the antiviral drug. The above comments on moderate resistance to Tamiflu in some of the fatal cases are cause for concern.  Since there are only four confirmed fatalities, at least half are Tamiflu resistant.  The “moderate” resistance is almost certainly due to N294S, the genetic change found in the Gharbiya cluster a year ago.  N294S was present in samples collected prior to treatment, indicating it was circulating in Egypt.

Tamiflu medicine will lose impact rapidly

Link: A Study into Tamiflu Abuse.

Tamiflu is not a cure, but as an antiviral drug, it helps lessen the symptoms of the virus and shorten the duration of illness. It is also the main weapon we have against avian flu. While it cannot prevent people from contracting bird flu, Tamiflu does drastically reduce the risk of death if contracted and is most effective if given ahead of time, like a vaccine. In his study, Jerker Fick tested the ability of the antiviral molecules to survive in the sewers. This study, which took place at the Umea University in Sweden, had disturbing results. The scientist checked three different sewage treatment options to see if Tamiflu would break down or be destroyed by any or all of them. The three samples included raw sewage without any treatment at all, sewage that had been chemically treated and filtered, and “activated sludge”, sewer water which contained microbes intended to break down the waste. The Tamiflu molecules survived all three treatment processes. The fear sparked by this scientific examination of sewage is that the antiviral drug will be poured into rivers, lakes and even the ocean. From there, it can easily be ingested by water birds, particularly ducks who tend to forage near sewage outlets. If these birds ingest sufficient quantities of the treatment, it is quite likely that the avian flu will be able to adapt and become resistant to this form of antiviral medicine, leaving humans wide open to a pandemic.

Demand for bird-flu drug causes maker to halt sales

Link: The Globe and Mail.

Roche Canada has taken the highly unusual step of halting the sale of Tamiflu, thought to be the best defence against an avian influenza pandemic, after the drug maker experienced a higher-than-normal demand for the antiviral medication. Under the heading of "urgent," the firm sent a letter to Canadian pharmacies, stating that shipments of the drug oseltamivir phosphate will end immediately until flu season begins. When flu season hits, typically from December to March, nursing homes and other institutions will get priority, it wrote. "Roche Canada has decided to proactively manage the Tamiflu inventory," it wrote in the letter obtained by The Globe and Mail. "This flu season, the company will prioritize distribution of Tamiflu to those patients most at risk of developing serious influenza-related complications once the influenza season begins."

Roche recruiting others to manufacture vaccine

Link: Asia Times Online

This article laments the fact that Roche had not been made to make this move earlier.

"If they don't begin to actually license the patent for Tamiflu to dramatically increase worldwide production, I am going to pursue a legislative remedy a month from today," he said in a statement, according to media reports from Washington DC. "Roche is putting their own interest ahead of world health. They should not be slow-walking this process when we have a potential pandemic that could occur at any time." By Thursday, Roche had caved in, agreeing to give the license to manufacture Tamil flu to four US generic drug manufacturers.

Bush Aid was Tamiflu chairman

Link: Sara's Kitchen:

Donald Rumsfeld, until he resigned and joined the Bush Administration, was the chairman of something called Gilead which just happened to make something called Tamiflu. Now anyone who hasn't been on Mars for the last month or two, knows that there were only two things that were going to stop the human version of bird flu. One was a bird flu vaccine (which probably would work better if you were a bird) and the other was something called Tamiflu. Yes, that Tamiflu.

The Politics of Tamiflu

Link: Bird Flu Alert:.

An extract from a much longer article about Tamiflu - a provocative read!

Tamiflu(c), manufactured by Roche, a Swiss company, is the FDA approved medicine purported to be an effective treatment for influenza. It has been around for years but hasn't sold well due to the lack of a large influenza epidemic in the world. The threatened Bird Flu pandemic has changed that. Now stocks of Tamiflu(c) are in great demand and large quantities are impossible to secure. Roche is backlogged for years into the future. World health authorities including the UN's World Health Organization (WHO) are urging Roche to license other companies to make the drug, but they are resisting, claiming the drug-making process takes a year and that it would take new makers three years to get tooled up and that the main ingredient is in limited supply. They have been caught in a lie, however. Within hours of Roach's public statements about the unfeasibility of allowing other entities to make their newly crowned "blockbuster" drug and perhaps save millions of inhabitants of planet earth, several potential makers, two of them governments have stepped up and revealed their plans to "break" the Tamiflu(c) patent and start production by the end of this year, should a pandemic break out. Taiwan stated yesterday that they already had made the drug in the lab and could commence commercial production within a few months. India made a similar pronouncement in this release. Though intellectual property such as patents is important to incentivize innovation and research, in the case of Tamiflu(c), "stealing" the patent would seem to be a case of "Turn about is fair play." You see, Tamiflu(c) is but a knock-off of an ancient oriental treatment for coughs and flues. The fruit of the Chinese Star Anise tree is the starting point in the manufacture of this "modern" wonder drug. Chinese medical practitioners have used a tea of this licorice-tasting spice to treat respiratory problems for hundreds, if not thousands of years. The fruit of this Magnolia-like tree is being quickly scooped up by enterprising thinkers around the world and large, commercial quantities are already in short supply. Once the small quantities currently in the supply chain are gone, further Star Anise will not be available till the harvest next March. Roche claims to be able to synthesize the shikimic acid which is the substance extracted from Star Anise in the first stage of the manufacturing of Tamiflu(c). This reporter has at least a mild curiosity as to whether all the complex processing of making Tamiflu(c) is necessary to make a good flu treatment.

Roche shares touch record amid panic buying of bird flu treatment

Link: Guardian Unlimited

he Swiss pharmaceutical company Roche saw its share price touch an all-time high yesterday as strong sales of its cancer treatments and bird flu drug, Tamiflu, boosted third-quarter revenues. The day after the company said it would consider allowing other companies to produce Tamiflu to meet soaring demand, it announced group sales for the third quarter had risen by 20% to Sfr8.82bn (�3.9bn) from Sfr7.37bn for the same period last year. The World Health Organisation fears that the bird flu virus could mutate into a form that could kill thousands and is recommending that governments stockpile drugs like Tamiflu. If the disease spreads among the population, it should be treated aggressively with drugs to reduce the number of deaths, says the WHO.

Don't put your faith in a central Tamiflu stockpile.

Link: Avian Flu

Click the link above for the whole article - several points well made

Countries around the world are stockpiling Tamiflu, in anticipation of a possible avian flu pandemic.  This is better than doing nothing, but Tamiflu is unlikely to protect most of us, should a pandemic arrive.  Here are a few reasons why: 1. Tamiflu must be taken within the first two days of symptoms.  Your chance of getting some Tamiflu that quickly, in a pandemic, will not be great (of course you could buy some on your own). 2. Tamiflu, if taken preventively, can prevent you from getting sick in the first place.  But you would need two tablets each day.  Only essential medical personnel, and select  politicians, are likely to receive such treatments.

EBay stops bird flu drug auction

Link: EBay stops bird flu drug auction - Bird Flu - MSNBC.com.

Internet auction site eBay pulled the sale of Roche Holding AG’s flu drug Tamiflu from its Web site on Tuesday, after prices topped 100 pounds ($174) on growing fears about the spread of bird flu. A spokeswoman for eBay said the auction on its British site had been stopped because the sale of prescription drugs was not allowed under the company’s rules. “The Tamiflu listings on eBay.co.uk were removed from the site as soon as we became aware of them. We do not permit the listing of any controlled drug or item that requires a prescription,” she said in a statement.

Tamiflu - demand exceeds supply

Link: Wired News.

Roche AG says it will build a U.S. plant to make more of its anti-bird flu drug Tamiflu, but that promise failed to tamp growing international pressure on the Swiss drug giant to ease its monopoly grip on the drug. European Union foreign ministers on Tuesday called bird flu a global threat following the discovery of new cases in Greece, Romania and Turkey in recent days, which led to bans on poultry from those countries. Meanwhile, demand for Tamiflu is far outstripping Roche's ability to make it. Some 40 countries are scrambling to create Tamiflu stockpiles to treat millions if a pandemic occurs and there's growing international pressure to ignore Roche's patent rights and manufacturer inexpensive generic versions.