Roche donates 5.65 million packs of Tamiflu
Swiss drug maker Roche has announced it is donating 5.65 million packs of its anti-viral medicine Tamiflu to the World Health Organization (WHO).
Roche says the donation will replenish stockpiles of Tamiflu that were depleted when WHO sent supplies to poor countries in response to the H1N1 virus outbreak.
Each pack of Tamiflu, also known as oseltamivir, is enough for one course of treatment for the viral infection.
The Basel-based company says 650,000 packs containing smaller doses of the drug will be used to create a new stockpile for children.
Tamiflu is one of two anti-viral drugs, along with Relenza, said to be effective against the new so-called swine flu.
Roche said on Tuesday it could increase production to 35 million packets from 22 million a month if needed.
WHO laboratories have confirmed 4,379 infections with the new strain of H1N1 flu, which the United Nations agency said on Monday had killed at least 49 people.
In the meantime, Switzerland has dropped its tally of suspected cases to four, after 71 people tested negative for the disease.
There have been 76 suspected cases in Switzerland since the virus spread from its epicentre in Mexico in April. One person was confirmed as infected and has fully recovered after receiving treatment in hospital.
swissinfo.ch with agencies
In compliance with the JTI standards
More: SWI swissinfo.ch certified by the Journalism Trust Initiative
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.