Shanghai Pharmaceutical Group (SPG) said yesterday it has become the first company in Asia to secure a license from Switzerland's Roche to produce a generic form of Tamiflu, the only drug known to be effective against H5N1 avian influenza infection in humans.

"The license will allow SPG to produce and sell the drug known generically as oseltamivir on the Chinese mainland," SPG President Qian Jin told a press conference.

SPG said they had the capacity to produce 200,000 treatments a month over a six-month period.

Under the licensing agreement, the drug produced can only be sold to the government "for pandemic use," a company statement said.

Qian added that the drug would be priced reasonably to make it affordable.

Tamiflu is presently sold at 298 yuan (US$36.7) for 10 capsules, a standard five-day dosage.

William Burns, Roche's chief executive officer, was quoted in the statement as saying that his company was "in negotiations for local partnerships in other countries."

He said, "Following our open invitation to third parties we have a shortlist of partners who can be ready to expand capacity beyond 300 million treatments annually by 2007," which would be a more than tenfold increase on 2004.

SPG applied to Roche for the patent transfer on November 3 and earlier this month, a team was sent to evaluate the firm's capacity to produce it.

Tamiflu is in short supply as countries across the world stockpile it for a possible bird flu pandemic. Currently, all Tamiflu in China is imported through Shanghai Roche Pharmaceutical Ltd.

Also on Monday, the quarantine of a village in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region struck by a bird flu outbreak amongst poultry was lifted after 21 days of isolation, according to local authorities.

No new infections have been found in Wulan Village of the Morin Dawa Daur Autonomous Banner during the past three weeks, and culling, disinfection and epidemiological studies have all been conducted, according to local bird flu prevention headquarters.

So far this year, China has reported 30 outbreaks amongst birds in 11 provinces and regions and confirmed five human cases, including two fatalities.

(China Daily, Xinhua News Agency December 13, 2005)