Roche: Tamiflu works
April 15, 2014
Tamiflu manufacturer Roche has
said it “fundamentally disagrees”
with the overall conclusions of the
Cochrane report on the antiviral.
The evidence review (PD 14 Apr)
questioned the effectiveness of
Tamiflu (oseltamivir) in reducing
admissions to hospital or the
complications of influenza, and said
this raised the question of whether
stockpiling the drugs was still
justifiable.
Roche said it stood by the quality
of its data, which was reflected
in the decisions reached by 100
regulators globally.
The Cochrane report did not take
into account all data available for
Tamiflu, including only 20 out of
77 clinical trials available to it and
excluding data from observational
trials, Roche said.
“The result is a misrepresentation
of the efficacy and safety of an
established influenza medicine,
undermining global public health
consensus.”
Roche said while it welcomed
third party research, it did not
consider the Cochrane Group
that conducted the review to
be “an authority on the value of
neuraminidase inhibitors. “
Roche said it was important for
public health bodies and influenza
experts to provide their opinion on
the review before any conclusions
were drawn and referenced a
trial in The Lancet Respiratory
Medicine, which showed that
treatment with neuraminidase
inhibitors was associated with a
reduction in the risk of death by
19%.
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