Taiwan To Order 900,000 Doses Of Relenza As Tamiflu Backstop

Executive Summary

Taiwan's Cabinet has decided to have the government buy 900,000 doses of GlaxoSmithKline's Relenza (zanamivir) flu drug, now considered the most efficient H1N1 treatment. The Department of Health minister said the $20 million purchase would be on top of doses in route from local manufacturers of Roche's Tamiflu (oseltamivir). The minister said Relenza would be provided for medical personnel and others more prone to infection, among them people who have contracted the Tamiflu-resistant strain of H1N1 now spreading. The government plans to buy 2.5 million H1N1 vaccine doses when local drug makers begin making them. (Click here for more