The company has sought the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA)'s approval to market a generic version of Tamiflu (oseltamivir phosphate), said Gilead Sciences, the US company that owns the Tamiflu patent. Natco officials declined to comment on the development.
With reports of bird flu cases in Maharashtra being confirmed, leading pharmaceutical firm Cipla Ltd on Saturday said it would be releasing its version of Tamiflu in the Indian market in a week's time.
An Indian pharmaceutical company is gearing up to sell a cheap version of the leading patented antiviral flu drug Tamiflu to emerging economies, in a move that will pitch intellectual property rights against affordable access to medicines.
India plans to increase stockpiles of the anti-influenza drug Tamiflu or its generic version by 10-fold, from one million to 10 million currently, Bloomberg reported, citing Vineet Choudhary, joint secretary, Ministry of Health.
The government today decided to allow retail sale of Oseltamivir, commonly known as Tamiflu, the only drug available to treat swine flu.
Tamiflu, the only drug for swine flu, will be made available in 480 chemist outlets across the country, the Centre said.
Tamiflu, the anti-viral drug for swine flu, may do more harm than good to children afflicted with the H1N1 virus, a new study published on Monday says. The research published in the British Medical Journal says that antivirals Oseltamivir (Tamiflu) and Zanamivir (Relenza) are unlikely to prevent complications in childrenwho have swine flu.
Leading Indian pharmaceutical company Ranbaxy Laboratories Limited has offered to provide oseltamivir phosphate capsules
The central government's decision to stockpile another 20 million capsules of generic Tamiflu (Oseltamivir) to strengthen its preparedness to fight the H1N1 epidemic has alerted domestic pharmaceutical companies.
Roche on Friday announced that it has granted a sub-licence to Hyderabad based Hetero Drugs for the production of oseltamivir (Tamiflu) as part of its continued efforts to increase and speed up availability of the medicine for influenza pandemic plan
The Union Health Ministry on Wednesday told the state governments to crack down on people hoarding and black-marketing swine flu drug Oseltamivir and masks used as protection against the disease, warning that their "shortage will not be tolerated."
Amid reports of bird flu cases in India, Hyderabad-based Hetero Drugs on Saturday said it has got an order from the Centre for an additional two lakh capsules of Tamiflu.
One of them, a 74-year-old man, died of the H3N2 sub-type while the other victim was infected by Covid-19 as well as the influenza virus, state Health Minister Tanaji Sawant told the assembly on Wednesday.
Companies such as Cadila Healthcare, Lupin, and Natco, which sell generic versions of flu medication in the US market, are likely to benefit.
The central government's decision to continue controlling supply of the swine flu drug, oseltamivir, will help the drug innovator, Swiss multinational Hoffmann-La Roche, and its Indian licencee, Hetero Drugs, maintain their effective monopoly in the country, even as the drug lacks patent protection in India, fear domestic industry circles.
The renowned pulmonologist, who was part of the national COVID task force, highlighted the need for research on developing vaccines which will cover not only the current circulating strains but also from the emerging variants.
The H1N1 virus is all that we get to talk or read about now days. While the government continues to move pillar and post to ensure that this problem is brought under control, it also faces another problem -- the shortage of swine flu drug Tamiflu -- thanks to which the problem has risen to such an extent.
Assuring people that the government is determined to control the spread of swine flu in the country, the government on Friday said within a couple of days it will review and decide on the open sale of Tamiflu (Oseltamivir), the drug used for treatment of the disease.
A bench of Chief Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice G S Kulkarni was hearing a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) seeking that drugs being used to treat COVID-19 patients be made available directly at hospitals, and isolation and quarantine centres where such patients are treated.
Indian companies may be able to make generic copies of Roche's anti-influenza drug Tamiflu with its patent still pending in the country.
The deadly new strain of bird flu that has killed 36 people in China has developed resistance to antiviral drugs in some patients, scientists say.
Drug firm Strides Acrolab on Tuesday said it is in a position to supply Oseltamivir Capsules, the only available medicine against Influenza A HINI virus (Swine Flu), to meet the demand both from domestic and overseas market.
One of the ways to stop the deadly virus from spreading is to improve your immunity to fight infections, says Dr Pramod Tripathi.
"We have launched Oseltamivir brand, called Antiflu, which is the only flu medicine from India to be prequalified by World Health Organisation," Cipla's Chairman and Managing Director, Y K Hamied said.
Swine flu claimed its fourth victim in Mumbai on Thursday when a 35-year-old man died of the disease at a civic hospital on Thursday evening. Dattatraya Gawde, a resident of suburban Ghatkopar, died at the Kasturba Hospital, Additional Municipal Commissioner Manisha Mhaiskar said."When he was brought to the hospital on August 18, he had acute respiratory distress syndrome and was put on a ventilator," Mhaiskar said.
An officer of the Indian Administrative Service, who returned to Patna from London recently, has tested positive for swine flu. This is the first confirmed case of the viral disease in Bihar.His test reports received on Monday confirmed that the official had contracted swine flu, health officials said on Tuesday.The officer, who is staying at his official bungalow, has been kept under observation and is being given Tamiflu, they said.
With a surge in swine flu cases across the country, the government on Monday decided to allow private labs to conduct tests of suspected cases in accordance with the guidelines issued by it and stockpile another 2 crore tablets of Tamiflu to check spread of the disease.
Pharmaceutical firm Strides Arcolab on Friday said it has launched its anti-swine flu drug 'Starflu'.
Gayatri, the victim was shifted to the Kempe Gowda Hospital on August 17, after she had complained of breathlessness. She was administered Tamiflu on arrival at the hospital. However she passed away on August 20. The test results which reached the hospital on Friday showed that she had died after contracting the deadly H1N1 virus.
Samples of 20 suspected cases of swine flu were found to be negative while results of three persons are awaited, even as the government on Wednesday issued an advisory warning against indiscriminate use of the medicine Tamiflu, which is the only drug to cure the disease.
The government on Wednesday said Indian drug makers Ranbaxy and Cipla have approached it for assistance in manufacturing Tamiflu to fight bird flu
There is no case of bird flu in the country but government has decided to stockpile ten lakh doses of the drug, Tamiflu, which helps in treating the infection.
The national capital has reported the second death due to swine flu this year with a 60-year-old woman succumbing to the H1N1 virus at a hospital while undergoing treatment.
A 59-year-old man undergoing treatment for swine-flu at Safdarjung Hospital in New Delhi has died, in what is believed to be the first death from H1N1 influenza in the national capital this season.
'The majority of transmission will be via people who are within two metres of one another.' 'The closer you are, the more likely that you'll be infected.'
The virus continued to spread its tentacles to new states, including Mizoram.
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