Engineering microbes could be our best hope for creating enough antiviral drugs.
As fears spread about a potential flu pandemic, Roche's antiviral drug Tamiflu (oseltamivir phosphate) has found itself thrust under the spotlight. With the current supply thought to cover just 2% of the world population, health officials and researchers are asking how Roche can create enough supplies to be stockpiled and help control an outbreak until a vaccine can be made. Of all the proposals suggested, it is ironic that the best solution to controlling a flu pandemic with an antiviral drug could lie within bacteria.
As fears spread about a potential flu pandemic, Roche's antiviral drug Tamiflu (oseltamivir phosphate) has found itself thrust under the spotlight. With the current supply thought to cover just 2% of the world population, health officials and researchers are asking how Roche can create enough supplies to be stockpiled and help control an outbreak until a vaccine can be made. Of all the proposals suggested, it is ironic that the best solution to controlling a flu pandemic with an antiviral drug could lie within bacteria.
