Roche - Producers of Tamiflu

Britain identifies 18 websites illegally selling anti-flu drug Tamiflu

LONDON (AFX) - A total of 18 websites across the world have been identified
as illegal sellers of products claiming to be the sought-after anti-flu drug
Tamiflu, a British government health agency spokesman said.
Seven of those websites were based in the US, three of them were in Britain
and two were in Canada, according to a spokesman for the Medicines and
Healthcare products Agency (MHRA).
Switzerland, Bahrain, Jersey, Cyprus, Singapore and Malta each had one
website claiming to sell the top-selling tablet treatment, he added.
"All are being investigated by local authorities," the MHRA said in a
separate statement, adding that it also was carrying out test purchases.
International regulators, such as Britain's MHRA, have launched a series of
"sting" operations against illegal producers and sellers of the flu drug, the
Financial Times reported.
Tamiflu, made by Swiss company Roche Pharmaceuticals, is considered the most
effective treatment available to counter the H5N1 strain of bird flu, which has
killed almost 70 people in Asia since 2003.
Health watchdogs fear soaring demand for Tamiflu will prompt people worried
by bird flu to attempt to buy it online -- a practice fraught with risks for
purchasers.
A public awareness campaign has already been launched by the MHRA to warn of
the dangers of acquiring Tamiflu-style products over the Internet and outside
regulated national healthcare systems.
Meanwhile, US, Dutch and Austrian officials are tracing a growing volume of
counterfeit tablets back to Asia, the FT said.
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