BMJ: the UK government will continue to invest £ 49 million in Tamiflu

Source: DXY 2014-4-17 currently, the UK government is working on a £ 49 million (60 million euros; US $80 million) procurement plan to replace the stock of oseltamivir (Tamiflu) which will soon expire, so as to ensure the supply of such anti-virus drugs during the influenza epidemic Last week, Cochrane Collaboration made its first comprehensive systematic evaluation of neuraminidase inhibitors, in which they questioned the effectiveness of the drug and warned that such hoarding was a waste Even so, the government made the decision On Thursday, April 10, the British government announced the decision The government said that the inventory update has started, and in order to ensure that the country is prepared for a more serious influenza epidemic, it has purchased oseltamivir with a 7-year shelf life at the price agreed in the current contract However, the government has agreed to refer to the latest scientific evidence, including the results of the review by the Koren cooperation organization, before deciding to purchase more neuraminidase inhibitors for inventory in the future Last week, a review published by the Coelen collaboration reviewed all clinical trial data on oseltamivir and zanamivir on behalf of pharmaceutical companies Roche and GlaxoSmithKline It took researchers and BMJ four and a half years to get the data The UK health sector has so far spent 424 million pounds on oseltamivir reserves and 130.6 million pounds on zanamivir reserves The Cochrane Collaboration concluded that oseltamivir reduced influenza symptoms by about half a day However, there is no data to prove that the drug can prevent pneumonia and other symptoms In addition, oseltamivir, if used as a prophylactic agent, did not prevent the spread of influenza in disease-free people, but increased the risk of complications including neurological and renal function Carl heneghan, Professor of evidence-based medicine, Oxford University He was also a member of the Cochrane review group Last week, he told a press conference that from a political point of view, he understood why the government insisted on its original decision, but now the situation is different The review shows that not only oseltamivir has no effect on reducing hospitalization and complications, but also the spread of the virus "may cause great harm" Treasury records argue that "the 2013-2014 update is in place The whole process is time effective, that is, when there is only one month shelf life left, the goods must be packed and delivered If the Department does not update the inventory, the goods will be cancelled " They added that "future inventory decisions will take into account the latest scientific evidence and be compared with international ones." The government's decision is part of its response to the Tamiflu reserve report by the Commons Public Accounts Committee The report suggests that once the review is completed, the Ministry of health, MHRA and nice "should consider whether it is necessary to reexamine the previous judgment on the efficacy of Tamiflu." The government plans to implement it from 2015 The record shows that "MHRA has not seen any new evidence to challenge the regulatory decision on Tamiflu Roche has a legal obligation to share any such information with regulators and will carefully review any new information before it is delivered to the public Any regulatory action is planned by the European Medicines Agency (EMA).