Japanese ‘find new Tamiflu production method’

A Japanese research team has discovered a way of producing Tamifu which does not require rare ingredients.

Roche’s Tamiflu is being bought up by governments around the world as defence against pandemic flu. At present, the drug’s manufacture relies on shikimic acid sourced from star anise, a Chinese spice.

But a team from the University of Tokyo are claiming that they have synthesised the drug without using the spice using 1,4-cyclohexadiene. Head researcher Professor Masakatsu Shibasaki told Reuters that his team’s method could avoid shortages.

“For example, morphine production can fall sharply if there is a poor poppy harvest. For medical production, natural ingredients can be a cause for anxiety,” he said.

He added that his team’s method was more efficient than others suggested by the drug’s manufacturer Roche, but said that it was still in the early days of research and that further work was required.

Tamiflu is in great demand from many Western governments. The UK has already purchased 14.6 million courses of the drug, although it is not yet known whether the treatment will have any affect against the unidentified virus.

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