Tamiflu Drug

A milder than usual U.S. flu season is masking a growing concern about widespread resistance to the antiviral drug Tamiflu and what that means for the nation's preparedness in case of a dangerous pandemic flu. Tamiflu, the most commonly used influenza antiviral and the mainstay of the federal government's emergency drug stockpile, no longer works for the dominant flu strain circulating in much of the country, government officials said this week.

The Riverside County Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday to buy half a million dollars' worth of the antiviral drug Tamiflu to distribute to county rescue workers in the event of a human outbreak of bird flu, joining Los Angeles and a handful of other California counties stockpiling the drug. "I think it's encouraging that some of the counties are stepping up. To me, it's an investment in emergency preparedness," said Dr.

The biggest case yet of humans possibly infecting others with bird flu prompted the World Health Organization to put the maker of the antiviral drug Tamiflu on alert for possible shipment of the global stockpile for the first time, officials said. Officials said the stockpile alert occurred Monday as experts puzzled over why six of seven Indonesians from a family in a village in North Sumatra province died after they became infected with the H5N1 virus.

The maker of the antiviral medication Tamiflu issued a new warning for the flu drug Monday, saying patients must be closely monitored for potential psychiatric problems, including delirium and suicide. Hoffman-La Roche Inc. had been discussing the matter with the Food and Drug Administration, which has been reviewing 103 cases in which patients reported bizarre behavior, usually within a day of taking Tamiflu. Most cases involved children under 17 and occurred in Japan.

Gilead Sciences Inc. is seeking to regain the rights to influenza drug Tamiflu from Roche Holding. Gilead, which invented the drug, said Thursday that it had ended a development agreement reached with Switzerland-based Roche in 1996 because of a "material breach" in the deal. Roche failed to effectively promote Tamiflu and had manufacturing problems that led to shortages, according to John Milligan, chief financial officer of Foster City, Calif.-based Gilead.

A strain of the H5N1 bird flu virus is showing resistance to Tamiflu, the antiviral drug that countries around the world are now stockpiling to fend off the looming threat, researchers said. They urged drug manufacturers to make more effective versions of Relenza, another antiviral that is also known to be effective in battling the much-feared H5N1. Relenza is inhaled.

Tamiflu, the chief antiviral drug used to treat bird flu, has been flying off the shelves as doctors and hospitals stock up for a possible pandemic. U.S. pharmacies saw a sevenfold increase in Tamiflu prescriptions since mid-August -- about 87,000, compared with fewer than 13,000 last year -- according to a survey by Yardley, Pa.-based research firm Verispan.

Swiss drug maker Roche Holding, under pressure to increase the output of its antiviral drug Tamiflu as avian flu reaches Europe, said Tuesday that it would consider granting other companies licenses to make the drug. In a move that echoes plans to make expensive HIV and AIDS treatments available in Africa, Roche said it would consider allowing companies and governments in developing nations to produce the drug in preparation for a feared bird flu pandemic.

Faced with the possibility of a worldwide epidemic of bird flu, the maker of the antiviral medication Tamiflu has agreed to discuss deals with generic pharmaceutical manufacturers that would increase production of the drug, which is in short supply, lawmakers said Thursday. Tamiflu is not a vaccine, but some doctors believe that if administered early it can reduce the severity of the illness and help prevent its spread. Sens. Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.

Pharmaceutical company Roche Holding said Thursday that it temporarily suspended shipments of Tamiflu to nongovernment recipients in the United States to ensure that enough of the antiviral drug will be available for the influenza season. U.S. companies and large organizations apparently have been hoarding the drug -- which experts believe is most effective in treating bird flu -- amid the spread of the virus and fears it could mutate into a strain transmittable among people.