Avian flu has now reportedy reached as far as UK. With the threat of a global pandemic becoming more and more real, generic drug manufacturers are getting more and more eager to secure permission from Roche to manufacture a generic version of Tamiflu, the single antiviral drug known to help fight avian flu.

Biopeer noted that Cipla Ltd, the second largest drug makers in India, wants to start producing 750 kg/month of generic Tamiflu next year.

Taiwan has also decided to ignore patent law and go ahead with a small-scale production of an antiviral that's 99% similar toTamiflu, without waiting for Roche's consent. The say they intend to produce only 6 kg, just to fill their stocks, and not for commercial purposes.

But while Tamiflu may treat avian flu, it will not prevent a pandemic. Should the flu turn into a form that can be transmitted from person to person (and experts are saying that clues are pointing that way), only vaccines can put a pandemic under control. Because of the time pressure, DNA and cell based vaccines present a lucrative option, compared to the conventional egg-based method of vaccine production.

In supplement to my previous entry DNA-based avian flu vaccine, the mode of delivery proposed should such vaccines prove effective is also described in FuturePundit:

Researchers at Cardiff University have discovered a means of delivering DNA directly into skin cells, allowing it to be spread efficiently throughout the body. A painless small silicon chip placed on the skin would deliver the DNA vaccine into surface skin cells where the DNA would get expressed to make antigen that the body's immune system would make (antibodies) against.

Walter Derzko at Smart Economy also proposes a theory of producing an anti-flu vaccine using siRNA against NS1, a gene common to respiratory viruses. He builds his theory on previous reports of the effectivity of siRNA therapy against respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) -- a virus associated with severe bronchitis and asthma. He asks:

Both RSV and Influenza A and Influenza B all use the same NS1 protein to disable host cells. So if the RSV can be attacked with siRNA, why can't the Influenza Bird Flu virus?

Photo Credit: AFP, appeared in BBC.