RI to produce raw material for Tamiflu

RI to produce raw material for Tamiflu

JAKARTA: The government is in talks with a South Korean company
to produce a key raw material locally for the production of
Tamiflu, Minister of Health Siti Fadilah Supari said on Monday.

She said that the South Korean company, called Daewoong, had
the technical capacity to produce Oseltamivir, the active
ingredient in Tamiflu, to help Indonesia produce Tamiflu tablets.

Tamiflu is seen as the most promising drug to treat those
infected with avian influenza. Swiss pharmaceutical firm Roche
Holding AG, which holds the patent for the drug, has recently
approved a request from the Indonesian government to produce
Tamiflu at home to boost its stockpile in case a bird flu
pandemic occurs.

So far eight people have died of the H5N1 bird flu strain in
Indonesia. -- Antara