Related News
Home » Metro » Health and Science
Antiviral flu drug produced in city
Source: Xinhua/Shanghai Daily |
June 27, 2009, Saturday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
CHINA'S first new batch of an antiviral drug to fight swine flu came off the production line in Shanghai yesterday, while Shanghai Health Bureau reported five new flu cases.
The Oseltamivir Phosphate capsules, 256,000 in all, manufactured by the Shanghai Pharmaceutical (Group) Co Ltd, have passed quality tests, Wu Jianwen, president of the company, said yesterday.
The antiviral drug, the Chinese version of Tamiflu manufactured by Swiss drug maker Roche Holding, was first produced in 2005 to cope with the bird flu outbreak, under the authorization of Roche, Wu said.
Shanghai Pharmaceutical halted production of Oseltamivir Phosphate capsules in 2007, he said.
"Answering the call of the central government to combat (swine flu), we began preparing for the resumption of production in late April," he said.
"We'll be able to turn out 2?million pills per month, and we can expand the output capacity in the future if the flu epidemic gets worse," he said.
Shanghai Health Bureau reported five new swine flu cases yesterday, bringing the total local cases to 89.
Fifty-six patients have recovered and been discharged from hospital. All new patients had contracted the virus overseas, the bureau said. They were all in a stable condition last night. Local health authorities were chasing down people who had come into close contact with those infected as a precaution.
Tamiflu and Relenza, produced by GlaxoSmithKline, are the two recognized antiviral drugs used to treat the flu.
Shanghai Pharmaceutical is one of only two Chinese companies authorized by Roche to produce a Tamiflu-like drug.
In addition to antiviral drug production, China began laboratory tests on Monday on the country's first swine flu vaccine.
The vaccines are expected to hit the market in September after 14 days of safety tests in labs and two months of clinical tests from July, Fan Bei, deputy general manager of Hualan Biological Engineering Inc, has said.
The company has produced a batch of 90,000 doses, but it will be able to make 600,000 doses a day once the drug is approved, Fan said.
China has 11 drug firms that are qualified to produce flu vaccines. Another drug company, Sinovac Biotech Co Ltd, announced that it had started development of a swine flu vaccine on June 15.
The Oseltamivir Phosphate capsules, 256,000 in all, manufactured by the Shanghai Pharmaceutical (Group) Co Ltd, have passed quality tests, Wu Jianwen, president of the company, said yesterday.
The antiviral drug, the Chinese version of Tamiflu manufactured by Swiss drug maker Roche Holding, was first produced in 2005 to cope with the bird flu outbreak, under the authorization of Roche, Wu said.
Shanghai Pharmaceutical halted production of Oseltamivir Phosphate capsules in 2007, he said.
"Answering the call of the central government to combat (swine flu), we began preparing for the resumption of production in late April," he said.
"We'll be able to turn out 2?million pills per month, and we can expand the output capacity in the future if the flu epidemic gets worse," he said.
Shanghai Health Bureau reported five new swine flu cases yesterday, bringing the total local cases to 89.
Fifty-six patients have recovered and been discharged from hospital. All new patients had contracted the virus overseas, the bureau said. They were all in a stable condition last night. Local health authorities were chasing down people who had come into close contact with those infected as a precaution.
Tamiflu and Relenza, produced by GlaxoSmithKline, are the two recognized antiviral drugs used to treat the flu.
Shanghai Pharmaceutical is one of only two Chinese companies authorized by Roche to produce a Tamiflu-like drug.
In addition to antiviral drug production, China began laboratory tests on Monday on the country's first swine flu vaccine.
The vaccines are expected to hit the market in September after 14 days of safety tests in labs and two months of clinical tests from July, Fan Bei, deputy general manager of Hualan Biological Engineering Inc, has said.
The company has produced a batch of 90,000 doses, but it will be able to make 600,000 doses a day once the drug is approved, Fan said.
China has 11 drug firms that are qualified to produce flu vaccines. Another drug company, Sinovac Biotech Co Ltd, announced that it had started development of a swine flu vaccine on June 15.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
