GlaxoSmithKline To Supply 10.6 Million Relenza Doses To UK Government
January 29 2009 - 9:12AM
Dow Jones News
Pharmaceuticals company GlaxoSmithKline LPC (GSK.LN) Thursday
said it has signed a deal to supply the U.K. government with 10.6
million doses of influenza treatment Relenza to use if a flu
pandemic strikes.
Precise financial terms are confidential, although a spokesman
for GlaxoSmithKline said it is worth in excess of GBP100 million to
the Brentford, England-based drug maker. He added the company is
providing the doses at a discount to its normal price.
The U.K. government already has substantial stockpiles of Roche
Holding AG's (ROG.VX) rival medicine Tamiflu. But the European
Medicines Agency recommended governments don't rely on just one
treatment because of emerging evidence of the bug's resistance, and
the U.K. has followed that advice, GlaxoSmithKline said.
Following the deal, the U.K., like France, now has a big enough
stockpile to treat 50% of its population in the event of a serious
flu pandemic.
At 1333 GMT, shares in GlaxoSmithKline were down 23.5 pence, or
1.9%, at 1,232 pence, outperforming a lower FTSE-100 index, down
2.1%.
Company Web site: www.gsk.com
-By Jason Douglas, Dow Jones Newswires; 44-20-7842-9272;
jason.douglas@dowjones.com
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