WHO urges Roche to deploy Tamiflu stockpiles

“The stockpile is being deployed to countries in need at the discretion of WHO,” Roche said but did not identify the countries.

In the absence of an efficient vaccine against influenza A(H1N1) only Roche’s Tamiflu and Britain’s GlaxoSmithKline’s Relenza are considered efficient drugs to keep the virus in check.

“The stockpiles include both the two million treatment courses held by the WHO and the three million treatment course rapid response stockpile held by Roche,” said the company.

Roche is also scaling up production in the best interest of all stakeholders, the statemenht added.