Tamiflu developed by Gilead Sciences, Inc.
Gilead Sciences, Inc. timeline:
June 1987: Gilead Sciences was formed in June 1987 by Michael Riordan. The company's development of small molecule antiviral therapeutics begins with the licensing in 1991 of nucleotide compounds discovered in two European academic labs.
1988: Donald Rumsfeld joins Gilead Board of Directors.
1996: George Schulz joins the Gilead Board of Directors.
1996: Gilead enters into licensing agreement with Swiss pharmaceutical company Hoffman-Roche for late phase development and manufacture of Tamiflu.
Jan. 1997: Donald Rumsfeld becomes Chairman of Gilead Board of Directors.
1997: The first case of H5N1 virus (avian flu) spread from a bird to a human seen during an outbreak of bird flu in poultry in Hong Kong.
Oct. 27, 1999: FDA approves Tamiflu for influenza. Tamiflu was originally discovered by Gilead and licensed to Roche for late-phase development and marketing.
1999: Gilead acquires Boulder, Colo.-based NeXstar Pharmaceuticals.
2001: Donald Rumsfeld becomes U.S. Secretary of Defense
Jan. 29, 2002: Dr. David Barry, Chairman and CEO of Triangle Pharmaceuticals, dies of an apparent heart attack in his San Francisco hotel room.
June 26, 2002: Roche Receives European approval for Tamiflu.
Jan. 2003: Gilead completed its acquisition of Triangle Pharmaceuticals for approximately $464 million. The company also announced its first full year of profitability. Later that year Hepsera (adefovir) was approved for the treatment of chronic hepatitis B, and Emtriva (emtricitabine) for the treatment of HIV.
Dec. 22, 2003: Reuters. Biotech company Gilead Sciences Inc. (GILD.O: Quote , Profile,
Research ) on Monday filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to periodically sell up to $500 million in common and.....
2003-2005: Outbreaks of avian influenza in Asia, infecting more than 100 humans and killing 60.
June 23, 2005: Gilead delivers to Roche a notice of termination for material breach of 1996 Agreement.
Oct. 18, 2005: Gilead moves its European headquarters to London, from Paris.
In less than 20 years, Gilead Sciences, Inc. has become the third largest bio-tech company in the world. Its first year of profit was in 2003, after acquiring Triangle Pharmaceuticals. Foster City, Calif.-based Gilead now boasts more than $1 billion in annual sales on the strength of its HIV franchise.
Gilead is now attempting to terminate its licensing agreement with Roche.
Countries around the world are attempting to stockpile Tamiflu and Relenza. A study done on mice suggests that Tamiflu might be effective against the H5N1 Avian flu.
Other studies suggest it is more effective in conjunction with amantadine. Because the amantadines target one gene (M2) and the neuraminidase inhibitors target another gene (NA), the two drugs can be taken together and will compliment each other, as long as both targeted genes are susceptible to each drug class.
The Tamiflu dosage is 2mg/kg or 2 75 mg. pills per day for 5-7 days. In a community epidemic, 1 75 mg. pill per day for six weeks is recommended. Tamiflu should not be given to children under 1 year of age. Tamiflu is only effective as long as it is being taken.
A human strain of the H5N1 virus which surfaced in Vietnam this year is showing resistance to Tamiflu.
Researchers said that the bird-flu virus found in a Vietnamese teenager in February was resistant to the drug Tamiflu. The girl later recovered, but the case, to be reported in the Oct. 20 issue of the journal Nature, heightens concern about the Roche Holding AG drug, currently the centerpiece of global and national drug stockpiles against a possible pandemic of H5N1 avian influenza.
The 14-year-old girl hadn't had direct contact with sick poultry but had cared for her 21-year-old brother while he was ill with a documented case of avian flu. Such circumstances "raise the possibility that the virus would have been transmitted from brother to sister," the researchers wrote. A handful of other cases have raised the same possibility, but sustained human-to-human transmission hasn't been proved. The 14-year old girl recovered.
Avian flu has two forms, a mild form and a fatal form that can cause death within 24 hours of the first appearance of symptoms.
The deadly form was first discovered in Italy in 1878.
All birds are believed to be susceptible to the virus, though some species seem to have more resistance than others.
Migratory waterfowl - ducks, geese, etc. - often carry the virus, but seem to have the most resistance to severe infection.
Domestic poultry (like chickens and turkeys) are especially vulnerable to avian flu outbreaks and are the least likely to recover from the disease.
Some researchers believe contact between waterfowl and poultry may be a frequent cause of epidemics. Live bird markets, where caged birds are kept in close quarters, have also been cited as a way of spreading avian flu epidemics.
The virus can spread directly from bird to bird, and from farm to farm through contaminated equipment (like cages), feed, clothing, vehicles and shoes. Rats, too, can carry the virus on their feet.
The virus can survive for three months in bird droppings; the virus can also survive in water for up to four days.
Health experts are alarmed at how quickly the avian flu virus can mutate to a form that is deadly and resistant to medication. It can also mutate to a form that passes easily from one species to another, or among animals of the same species.
A 1983-84 outbreak of avian flu in Pennsylvania began with low mortality, but within six months the virus mutated to a deadlier form, with 90 percent of infected birds dying.