media coverage, page-5

Flu drug will be made in Australia
Richard Gluyas
18oct05

AUSTRALIA will start producing emergency supplies of the anti-bird-flu treatment Relenza within months to meet the escalating demand for the drug around the world amid growing fears of a devastating pandemic that could kill hundreds of thousands of people.

With the threat of the disease most pronounced in Asia, Australia would become the first nation outside of France to make the anti-bird-flu drug.

As Britain's chief scientist warned that at least 50,000 British citizens would die "when, not if" the avian flu took hold in Britain, The Australian has learned that pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline plans to urgently step up production of Relenza.

The drug, developed in Australia, is now made only in France, but fear of a global avian flu pandemic has led to the expansion.

The multi-million-dollar move to resume production at the Melbourne plant, which was shut five years ago, comes as the Howard Government negotiates with the British-based company to stock the drug.

Federal Health Minister Tony Abbott revealed last month the Government wanted to buy more Relenza, which was developed by CSIRO scientists, to add to the nation's official stockpile.

The stockpile is currently dominated by the rival product Tamiflu, made by Swiss giant Roche, following a $100million-plus order in last year's budget.

Tamiflu is made in Switzerland, and production will start in the US soon.

GSK Australia director of government and corporate affairs Alex Gosman described the company's discussions with the Government about buying Relenza as "positive".

"We expect them to be ongoing for the next couple of weeks," he said. "We're seeing increased global demand (for Relenza)."

While there has been no hint of an outbreak in Australia, the federal Government has warned that between 13,000 and 44,000 Australians would die in the first six to eight weeks of a flu pandemic.

British chief medical officer Liam Donaldson appealed for calm among his countrymen on national television at the weekend but said the Government could do nothing to stop the pandemic.

"We can't make this pandemic go away, because it is a natural phenomenon. It will come, but what we can do is to limit its impact," he said.

GSK's move to restore production of Relenza in Australia also comes amid reports of a strain of bird flu in Vietnam that showed signs of resistance to Tamiflu.

It is understood that recommissioning the Boronia plant in Melbourne's outer east will cost tens of millions of dollars. But Mr Gosman said it was not connected to the prospect of any stockpiling order from the Government.

The extra production of Relenza, he said, would be fed into a global pool, which would be allocated according to GSK's distribution plan.

However, the head of Biota Holdings, the Melbourne-based biotech company that collaborated on the Relenza project and licensed it to GSK, urged the Government to seek a priority delivery of any order it made for the drug.

"If I were the Australian Government, I would be trying very hard to get an order in and ensure that I was at the front of the queue," Biota chief executive Peter Molloy said.

Mr Molloy welcomed GSK's decision to resume production of Relenza at Boronia.

"This puts us in a good position in facing up the threat of pandemic flu," he said.