Article is a couple of days old but it could get interesting if China's Simcere Pharmaceuticals starts manufacturing Relenza. Reckon the Chinese government might need a few doses if they decide to stockpile in case of an emergency.LOL.
LONDON, May 1 (Reuters) - GlaxoSmithKline (GSK.L) is ramping up production of its inhaled flu drug Relenza and preparing to start manufacturing a pandemic vaccine, the world's second biggest drugmaker said on Friday.
Relenza, known generically as zanamivir, is one of only two approved drugs to which the new H1N1 strain of flu has been found to be susceptible. The other is Roche's (ROG.VX) tablet Tamiflu.
Glaxo said it was set to produce 5 million treatment packs of Relenza a month within the next 12 to 14 weeks, equivalent to an annual run rate of 50-60 million.
A spokesman declined to give previous production volumes but said the increase was "meaningful". Relenza has proved less popular historically than Tamiflu in treating seasonal flu, leading Glaxo to make only limited quantities of the medicine in the past. But demand has spiked up in the wake of the H1N1 outbreak, which has killed up to 176 people in Mexico.
To further increase production, Glaxo said it was in active discussions with several other companies with manufacturing capacity, including China's Simcere Pharmaceuticals (SCR.N). Glaxo granted a voluntary licence to Simcere in 2006 to make products containing zanamivir.
The British company said it currently had 6 million packs of existing Relenza stock and was prioritising orders to governments, a number of which are supplementing their stockpiles of antivirals because of the imminent threat of a pandemic.
In addition to making Relenza, Glaxo is also one of the world's leading suppliers of vaccines and the group is now gearing up to manufacture a vaccine against the new H1N1 flu strain.
"GSK stands ready to begin manufacture of a potential vaccine against the new influenza A (H1N1) strain virus once the WHO and other public health authorities make recommendations for composition of the vaccine," it said.
BTA Price at posting:
$1.06 Sentiment: Buy Disclosure: Held
