Roche has announces that its antiviral medication Tamiflu is readily available for the forthcoming 2006-2007 influenza season for the treatment and prevention of influenza. Seasonal influenza is a debilitating and disruptive illness that affects millions of people each year and can lead to complications and death if not treated. Roche can also confirm that any government and corporate orders for stockpiling for an influenza pandemic are being progressed.

"During the past year, Roche has been gearing up its production capacity and we will be in a position to produce 400 million treatment courses by the end of this year", said William M Burns, CEO Division Roche Pharma. "Physicians can be confident that Tamiflu will be readily and widely available to patients who need it this season for flu treatment and post-exposure prevention. The measures taken also enable us to schedule any additional orders from governments and corporations who are stockpiling Tamiflu in preparation for an influenza pandemic. Of course, the rate at which this capacity is utilized will depend in large part on the future order flow and the severity of this year's influenza season".

During the 2005 -2006 season Roche had to restrict distribution of Tamiflu to wholesalers in many markets to ensure availability during an influenza outbreak, whilst the production capacity was being expanded. This led to the perception that Tamiflu was in short supply. Based on the available manufacturing capacities, the supply shortage no longer exits.

The broad availability of Tamiflu for both seasonal and pandemic use is due to expanded global production capacity, which will reach the rate of 400 million treatment courses annually by the end of 2006, a more than 10-fold increase since 2004. Roche's global network for the manufacture of Tamiflu includes several Roche sites and more than 15 external contractors located in 10 different countries around the world. The expansion includes a fully functioning European supply chain and a North American supply chain for Tamiflu with an annual capacity of 80 million treatment courses. In addition, Roche has further extended global availability by offering sublicenses to Hetero Pharmaceuticals and the HEC Group in India and Shanghai Pharmaceuticals in China. Roche has also finalised an agreement on sharing technical know-how with the South African company Aspen, allowing them to supply for pandemic use in the African continent.