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