ARGENTINA MULLS GENERIC TAMIFLU PRODUCTION

Reports claim Argentina is planning to produce a generic version of Roche's anti-flu treatment Tamiflu, in the event of a possible avian flu outbreak. Tamiflu is one of the drugs recommended by the WHO to treat the H5NI strain virus strain in humans. The virus appeared in Chile in 2002, and a milder strain was recently identified in Colombia.

A number of countries, including the US, UK, France and Germany have been stockpiling Tamiflu. However, Argentine officials have indicated that compulsory licensing remains a possibility, even though the country's industrialised poultry farms supply most of the local market. Such a position has led to the country's designations as at "low risk" of a serious outbreak.

To date, bird flu has killed 60 people in Asia and has been found in both Turkey and Romania. However, it is reported that Argentina lacks the necessary high-tech facilities to produce Tamiflu, and there are dwindling supplies of its chief raw material, star anise, a herb only grown in China. Meanwhile, Indian generics firm Cipla has already announced production of a copy version of Tamiflu.