GSK prepares
to bring bird-flu drug to India
Posted AtSify.com
Relenza was not an anti-viral medicine
that GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) was planning to register
in India. But with bird-flu putting the global spotlight
on Relenza, along with Tamiflu, GSK has put in a `stock
requirement' for India with its parent company in London.Relenza
and Tamiflu (from Gilead-Roche) are the two drugs reported
to be effective against the bird-flu. Consequently,
governments across the world are in a race to stock
these drugs in the event of an outbreak.
The parent company is assessing the requirement across
the world for Relenza and a decision on the allocation
will be taken, Kal Sundaram, Managing Director of GSK
in India, told Business Line.
Only recently Roche had indicated that it had placed
orders with the parent company for the Indian market.
The company expects to execute about 20 per cent of
India's requirement for one lakh drugs by April next
year.
Developed by Biota, Relenza is marketed globally by
GSK. Biota gets a seven-per cent royalty on the sale
of the drug. More clarity on making Relenza available
in India is expected to emerge by the year-end, the
GSK chief said. | Read more Finance news. |
He said as it was a pre-1995 drug, it does not get product-patent
protection in India under its new patent regime. Further,
this indicates that generic Indian companies would be
able to make copies of the drug, said Sundaram. But
the process involved in making the drug is difficult,
he added. Besides, the drug needs to be inhaled.
The GSK Chief Executive Officer, Jean-Pierre Garnier,
had in fact told investors last month that the company
planned to scale up its production, in collaboration
with partners interested in making the anti-viral.
"We also have to be realistic; even going at it seven
days a week, 24 hours a day, we can't come close to
the demand the world might need," Garnier is believed
to have told investors, according to news reports from
London.
In India, two Mumbai-based companies have shown interest
in making this drug. Cipla has said that it had commenced
research on Relenza. Nicholas Piramal had also indicated
that the company was willing to enter into a toll-manufacturing
contract with GSK to make the drug.
November 23, 2005 |
