UPDATE: Glaxo, Roche To Supply 18.2 Million Flu Doses To UK Government
January 29 2009 - 10:19AM
Dow Jones News
The U.K. government Thursday ordered millions of doses of
influenza treatments Relenza and Tamiflu from makers
GlaxoSmithKline PLC (GSK.LN) and Roche Holding AG (ROG.VX) to
provide treatment for up to half its population if a flu pandemic
strikes.
The U.K. Department of Health said the deal will double the
U.K.'s stockpile of antiviral flu drugs and make it the second
European nation, after France, to have enough medicine to treat 50%
of its citizens.
It ordered 10.6 million courses of treatment of Relenza from
GlaxoSmithKline of the U.K. and 7.6 million of Tamiflu from
Switzerland's Roche. The U.K.'s total stockpile now stands at 33.5
million doses of antivirals.
"The increased flu-drug stockpile means that we should be able
to treat everyone who falls ill in a pandemic," said U.K. Public
Health Minister Dawn Primarolo.
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.
Roche said it will have the order delivered by March, but said
it couldn't discuss financial terms.
The U.K. government previously had only Roche's Tamiflu in its
stockpile, but the European Medicines Agency recommended
governments don't rely on just one treatment because of emerging
evidence of the bug's resistance.
At 1442 GMT, shares in GlaxoSmithKline were down 32 pence, or
2.6%, at 1,223 pence, slightly outperforming a lower FTSE-100
index, down 3.1%. Roche shares were down CHF3.70, or 2.2%, at
CHF161.90.
Company Web site: www.gsk.com
-By Jason Douglas, Dow Jones Newswires; 44-20-7842-9272;
jason.douglas@dowjones.com
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