Roche - Producers of Tamiflu

China gears up for mass production of human bird flu vaccine - Xinhua

BEIJING (AFX) - China has set up an H5N1 virus reference bank, which will
allow the country to mass produce human bird flu vaccines quickly, the official
Xinhua news agency reported.
The agency cited Yin Weidong, a bird flu vaccine expert, as saying that if
bird flu mutates, Chinese experts would be able to develop a new vaccine within
four months.
Yin said the human bird flu vaccine will initially be offered to poultry
farmers and medical workers in areas hit by bird flu.
Xinhua did not give further details although scientists in China have said
they created a drug that is superior to the existing drug Tamiflu, made by Swiss
group Roche, for treating humans infected with bird flu.
China has reported six human cases of bird flu since October, with two
confirmed deaths.

delia.liu@xinhuafinance.com
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