New Delhi: India expects to receive its first batch of anti bird-flu drug Tamiflu from Swiss manufacturer Roche Holding AG in January, a government official said on Friday.
Although India has yet to report any case of bird flu, it is bracing for the possibility of migratory birds arriving for the winter season from countries such as China and Russia, which have reported outbreaks.
Satwant Reddy, top bureaucrat in the Chemicals and Petrochemicals department, said India would receive about 1,00,000 doses from Roche at prices approved by the World Health Organisation (WHO).
"The bird-flu has not yet reached India but we are getting ready in case it does come," she told reporters. "We're sensitive to this issue and a task force has already prepared an action plan."
The Indian government is also in talks with local pharmaceutical firms such as Ranbaxy Laboratories Ltd, Cipla Ltd and Glaxosmithkline Pharmaceutical Ltd to manufacture the drug within the country.
Earlier this month India asked China for a "cost-effective supply" of the star-shaped anise fruit, a key ingredient of the Tamiflu formula which is grown there.
Star anise is one source of shikimic acid, the starting point in the 10-step process which Roche says is key to produce the drug.
Tamiflu has been recommended by WHO as the most effective treatment available in the event of a flu pandemic.
India has tested blood samples of thousands of birds in the past few weeks and all have been negative.
However, New Delhi says it is preparing for possible human cases of the avian flu and plans to stock millions of doses of Tamiflu.
The bird flu virus recently moved from Asia to eastern Europe and is expected to reach the Middle East and Africa very soon.
The H5N1 bird flu virus is endemic in poultry in several Asian nations and has killed 67 people. Experts fear the H5N1 could mutate into a form that moves from human to human, sparking a pandemic.
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