Originally published December 3 2005
Roche and Gilead reach an agreement over generic versions of Tamiflu
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
Roche has reached an agreement with Gilead Sciences, which owns the patent to Tamiflu, and the agreement gives Gilead greater say in the increased role generic drug makers will play to meet quotas for the world Tamiflu supply.
The main producer of Tamiflu, the drug thought to be the best defense against a possible flu pandemic caused by bird flu, has settled a dispute with the drug's inventor over production and royalties, the companies said on Wednesday.
Governments have been seeking to stockpile the drug as a precaution against the possible outbreak of a human variant of avian flu but drug maker Roche Holding AG (ROG.VX: Quote, Profile, Research) has come under pressure over concerns production could fall short.
Under Wednesday's deal the drug's inventor Gilead Sciences Inc (GILD.O: Quote, Profile, Research) will get a greater say in plans to increase production of the drug by farming out parts of the process to third-party producers such as generic drug makers.
Gilead's share of the royalties from Tamiflu sales, which are expected to reach over $1 billion due to government orders, will remain unchanged, although it will no longer have to shoulder the burden of certain manufacturing costs.
"But it is certainly a good thing that they have agreed this amicably."
The settlement also involves Roche paying the U.S. firm around $62.5 million in reimbursements for so-called cost of goods adjustments backdated to the start of 2004.
Investors in the Swiss drugmaker had feared that the dispute, which broke out in June, could weigh on the firm's shares or scupper Tamiflu sales.
Roche's participation certificates were 0.4 percent higher at 194.40 Swiss francs by 0806 GMT, in a flat Swiss market.
The U.S. firm claimed Roche had failed to market the drug properly, particularly in the United States, and had not launched the drug as a treatment for seasonal flu in other countries.
Roche has come under pressure from governments around the world to increase its production capacity for the treatment and said last month that it would consider allowing other parties, such as generic drugmakers, to produce the remedy.
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