The health authoritites in China have decided to go one step further with the avian flu crisis. It is heard that they would ignore patent laws to manufacture a new version of Tamiflu to stop the bird flu virus the President of the Institute of Biological Sciences in Shanghai recently announced.

Tamiflu is believed to be the most effective drug for treating bird flu. However, experts are expecting innumerable bird flu deaths, if the disease spreads like an epidemic. Chinese Government has the right to side step patent laws in case of a major health crisis. The sale of Tamiflu manufactured by Roche Holding may be affected if the Chinese authorities make use of this law.

Though Roche has maintained silence on the issue till now, it is rumoured that they are discussing the issue with Shanghai Pharmaceutical Group Ltd. As the talks are still going on, the Chinese drug manufacturers refused to give the details of the possible deal. It is believed that six months would be required to start production of the drug, once a deal is struck.

In the meantime, Roche has been holding talks with drug manufacturers in various countries. It is believed that a Vietnamese company has already won the license agreement to manufacture the anti avian flu drug. Figures show that nearly 100 pharmaceutical firms all over the world have jointly applied for manufacturing the drug.  Though the exact volume of bird flu drugs passed on to the Chinese authorities is unknown, they have taken control of the distribution of Tamiflu.

Four outbreaks have been reported since October in China, including a major attack in Liaoning province. Nearly 60 people have died due to bird flu in Asia since 2003. Millions of bird deaths have been reported in the same period, to go along with 120 human infections. The spread of disease through migrating birds into Russia and Europe is the present worry.