Government, Roche Korea Spar Over Tamiflu
By Jane Han
Staff Reporter
The South Korean government and Roche Korea, the local branch of the Swiss drug maker that exclusively manufactures Tamiflu, are walking a tightrope not to irritate each other, but their conflicting needs continue to put them at odds over the short-of-supply the antiviral drug.
The track record between the two hasn't been good for years, but the latest blame game was freshly prompted when Minister of Health, Welfare and Family Affairs Jeon Jae-hee hinted last week that the government could exercise its right to nullify the patent of Roche's Tamiflu to enable local drug makers to produce the antiviral medicine.
The compulsory licensing, according to the minister, would be a way to ramp up the local supply of Tamiflu, which Seoul currently has enough of to treat some 5.31 million people, about 10 percent of the country's population.
But for Roche, the inventor and owner of Tamiflu, there is an entirely different reason why the South Korean government has trouble securing supplies efficiently.
The president of Roche Korea pointed to the government's untimely decision-making as the problem.
"The global stock situation is adequate and no additional supplies are required," Urs H. Flueckiger told The Korea Times in an e-mail interview.
He explained that Korean authorities usually insist on freshly produced stock in order to have maximum shelf life in case of long-term shortage, which makes delivery "obviously longer than getting previously manufactured goods which are also available."
The government said it will purchase 5 million doses of Tamiflu before the end of the year, which will increase the drug supply to treat 20 percent of the population. But details of the purchasing terms are still under negotiation, according to health ministry officials.
Flueckiger said goods already produced with a shorter remaining shelf life ― until 2013 ― could start being shipped to Seoul earlier than mid-October, but left the decision up to local authorities.
"The government's decision between fresh and already-produced stock depends on their assessment of the urgency of the situation," he said, adding that if the newly arrived stock is consumed right away, long shelf life is irrelevant.