GSK pledges help in flu outbreak
pharmafile | April 28, 2009 | News story | Research and Development |Â Â GSK, h1n1Â
GlaxoSmithKline has pledged to closely monitor the swine flu outbreak that began in Mexico, and assist in access to treatment for the disease.
Its announcement came as the World Health Organisation declared the outbreak of swine influenza a public health emergency and raised its level of alert.
GSK's Relenza is one of two antiviral treatments, along with Roche's Tamiflu, to have a positive effect on the new flu strain and both have been used to treat patients in Mexico.
GSK has so far supplied 100,000 packs of Relenza and 170,000 additional doses of its seasonal flu vaccine to the Mexican authorities.
The company is urgently assessing its ability to upscale Relenza production and has approached governments and organisations, including the WHO and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, to understand what support they might need.
The virus was first reported in Mexico and confirmed cases have now reached as far afield as Israel and New Zealand.
The suspected death toll from the influenza A (H1N1) strain is more than 150 in Mexico. Across the US and Canada almost 50 cases have been confirmed and are receiving treatment and in the UK two cases have been confirmed in Scotland.
Governments have been stockpiling Relenza and Tamiflu in anticipation of a major influenza outbreak. In the UK, health secretary Alan Johnson says the NHS has sufficient stockpiles of both drugs to treat more than half the UK population if needed.
Later this week European health ministers are expected to meet to discuss their response to the outbreak.
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