China, India drug firms say primed for swine flu

By Kirby Chien and Devidutta Tripathy

BEIJING/NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Pharmaceutical firms in China and India say they can quickly ramp up production of antiviral drugs if swine flu threatens the world's two most populous nations or if other countries need it.

The virus could spread quickly in densely populated cities in China or India where healthcare systems are often inadequate and antibiotic resistance is common, health officials say.

But so far there have so far been no confirmed or even suspected cases of the virus in either China or India, where more than one out of every three humans live.

Since avian flu caught the world off guard in 2003, Swiss drugmaker Roche Holding AG has authorized drug companies in developing countries to manufacture an inexpensive generic form of its Tamiflu drug, called oseltamivir or Fluvir.

Hyderabad-based Hetero Drugs, the only supplier in India licensed by Roche, could ramp up production to reach monthly capacity of about 80 million doses of Fluvir within weeks, Managing Director Srinivas Reddy said.

"We have told them we are keeping 1 million doses ready for them, which we can supply in 4 to 5 days," said Reddy, referring to the Indian government.

India's government has already stockpiled one million doses, which could treat more than 142,000 people.

Hetero supplied 200 million doses of the drug in the last three years to India and other countries, Reddy said, adding nations in Latin America, Middle East and Southeast Asia had inquired recently about it.