Drugmaker to make generic Tamiflu

Drugmaker to make generic Tamiflu

UNITED KINGDOM: Indian pharmaceutical manufacturer Cipla plans to
produce a generic version of the anti-viral drug Tamiflu to
counter a feared bird flu pandemic, The Financial Times reported
on Saturday, quoting a company official.

"The whole world needs it and there is a tremendous shortage,"
Cipla's joint managing director Amar Lulla told the paper,
brushing off the potential threat of legal action from Tamiflu's
maker Roche.
"We will sell it in many countries where there are no patents,"
notably in Africa, the Middle East, Latin America and Asia,"
Lulla said.

Cipla would sell its own version of oseltamivir, the generic
name for Tamiflu, at a "humanitarian" price below that of the
Roche product, Lulla said, though he declined to give a figure.

Cipla, India's third largest drugs producer, also makes cheap
generic versions of drugs to combat the AIDS virus. -- AFP