WASHINGTON, October 28 – The United States government has announced they’re spending millions of dollars in preparation of a potential avian influenza pandemic.
The biggest news is the contract they awarded to Chiron Corp. to manufacture an avian influenza vaccine. The contract is worth an astonishing $62 million. This is the second mega-contract being awarded to a pharmaceutical company to work on a bird flu vaccine, earlier Sanofi-Aventis was awarded a contract worth $100 million. The Senate made clear they’re investing a total of $8 billion in the future to prepare for a global pandemic.
The manufacturer of Tamiflu, Swiss-based Roche, meanwhile announced they’re stopping shipments of Tamiflu to U.S. private sellers to prevent hoarding. Spokesman Alexander Klauser explained that they want to make sure that there is enough supply for when the drug is really needed, when the flu season starts. So far the flu season hasn’t started yet but prescriptions for Tamiflu have gone up 400% in comparison to last year.
