Roche has agreed to meet with four generic drug companies including Ranbaxy to discuss allowing them to manufacture the anti-influenza drug Tamiflu, which is in short supply as countries stockpile it to prepare for a possible flu pandemic, according to report.

The agreement was announced by Senators Charles Schumer, Democrat of New York, and Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican, after a meeting with George Abercrombie, who runs Roche's operations in the United States.

The other companies are Teva Pharmaceutical Industries, Barr Pharmaceuticals, Mylan Laboratories.

Whether deals will be reached with the companies is unclear, as is how much help Roche would provide and how quickly production could start.

Roche, which is based in Switzerland, issued a statement suggesting that its willingness to meet with the companies did not go beyond its announcement on Tuesday that it would consider allowing others to make the drug, the report says.

Schumer said Roche had indicated that the generic manufacturers would be able to sell the drug not only to the government stockpile but to others. But the companies might be allowed to make the drug only for a limited period of time.

According to the report, he said that Roche would be paid for the patent rights and that the generic companies would not be likely to sell the drug for much more or less than Roche does. "The problem here is not the cost of the drug but the supply," he said.

Schumer said the generic companies could make Tamiflu in one month with Roche's cooperation or in three months without.

Roche has said it would take another company two to three years to bring production online and that even Roche takes at least eight months to make a batch of the drug. Regulatory approval alone for a drug or for a manufacturing process usually takes longer than three months, the report added.

Meanwhile, Mylan Laboratories said the company is prepared to produce significant volumes of Tamiflu. Mylan was contacted by US Senator Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., and the company intends to immediately begin working with political leaders, the US FDA and Roche to respond to this global health situation, the company says.

Robert J. Coury, Mylan's vice chairman and chief executive officer. "Mylan is uniquely positioned to respond to this need for increased production of Tamiflu. We have always structured our manufacturing capacity to be able to rapidly respond to urgent needs such as this one and we stand ready to contribute to the production of this important medication."