UK gov orders 10.6M doses of Relenza

UK drug major GlaxoSmithKline has entered into a deal with the UK government to provide 10.6 million treatment courses of Relenza  (zanamivir) for use in an influenza pandemic. The agreement is part of  a further 18 million treatment courses of antivirals that the government  has purchased, the firm noted.

The UK Department of Health has now doubled its stockpile to cover  approximately half the British population; enough to treat all of those  who fall ill with pandemic influenza should the clinical attack rate  reach the worst case planning scenario of 50%. Zanamivir constitutes  approximately a third of the UK's current antiviral stockpile. GSK  licensed the antiviral from Australian company Biota, which stands to  receive royalties of up to $18.0 million from the deal. The news does  not affect ongoing litigation between the two firms, in which Biota  alleges that GSK under-promoted Relenza (Marketletters passim).