Swiss pharmaceutical giant Roche claimed to have reached a sublicensing deal with Shanghai Pharmaceutical group for production of its flagship anti-influenza drug Tamiflu in China. The company said it had identified a total of 12 potential partners for production of the drug that is seen as a first line of treatment for bird flu. The other 11 partners, who were not named, include major pharmaceutical companies. Roche believes the partners will help expand capacity beyond 300 million treatments a year by 2007. Tamiflu is considered the most effective treatment available to counter H5N1 bird flu, which has killed some 70 people in Asia since 2003.
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