Cardinal Health to manufacture Tamiflu for Roche

Cardinal Health, the leading provider of products and services supporting the health-care industry, has announced that it has signed agreements to manufacture and package Tamiflu for Roche to help meet current and future demand for the influenza medicine.

Under the terms of the manufacturing agreement, Cardinal Health will manufacture 75 mg hard gelatin capsules of Tamiflu on behalf of Roche at one of Cardinal Health's manufacturing sites in Europe. The companies also have arrangements in place for Tamiflu packaging and printed insert production at facilities in the United States.

"Roche has demonstrated global leadership through its commitment to increase production in advance of a possible avian flu outbreak," said Joseph Papa, chairman and CEO of the Pharmaceutical Technologies and Services segment of Cardinal Health. "Cardinal Health's pharmaceutical manufacturing and packaging expertise allows companies like Roche to expand production in a timely manner. This model is vital in preparing for and responding to situations like avian flu, where rapid, cost-effective solutions are critical to success."

The World Health Organization (WHO) advises that stockpiling antivirals in advance is presently the only way to ensure that sufficient supplies are available in the event of a pandemic. Roche has been working closely with WHO and national governments to ensure governments are aware of the importance of stockpiling antivirals before a pandemic occurs. Roche has received and fulfilled pandemic orders for Tamiflu from more than 75 countries worldwide. The magnitude of these orders varies with some countries, France, Finland, Iceland, Ireland, Luxembourg, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Switzerland and UK stockpiling or intending to stockpile adequate Tamiflu to cover 20 to 40 percent of their population. Roche has also donated 5.125 million courses of Tamiflu treatment to the WHO for international rapid response and regional response to a pandemic influenza strain.