To join the program, a company must commit to order a minimum of 2,500 courses of Tamiflu at $6 a piece, which is less than 10 percent of the final market price. That amounts to an annual order of $15,000, according to Roche president and chief executive officer George Abercrombie. A course is made up of 10 doses.
Abercrombie said Roche will store the flu drug for the companies, which has the option of renewing the arrangement annually. If the firm wants physical control of the medication, it would be sold to them by Roche at wholesale price and delivered within two days.
Even prior to the Roche roll out of the stockpiling program more than 300 firms have placed orders for Tamiflu, Abercrombie disclosed. While the Switzerland-based drug company placed a minimum order, which was based on cost-effectiveness, the company's CEO said it could adjust to lesser requirements of smaller firms.
The program was able to secure the support of the Department of Health and Human Services because of the unprecedented threat of a flu pandemic in the country, said Tevi Troy, deputy secretary of the department. "We are highlighting it to promote the concept of preparedness and shared responsibility," Troy told USA Today.
