<이미지를 클릭하시면 크게 보실 수 있습니다>

South Korea’s health ministry said on Thursday it has downgraded its target stockpile level of Tamiflu, a popular drug approved to treat influenza, from 30 percent against population to 25 percent, citing the country’s preparedness in production of generic flu drugs in case of epidemic.

The Ministry of Health and Welfare said the latest target adjustment is based on a flu pandemic modeling study and expert opinions.

The ministry plans to take a flexible approach to its target stockpiling of the medication in consideration of changes in the healthcare environment, supply and demand, and the trend of infectious diseases in Korea.

There are many generic drugs now available in Korea after Tamiflu became off patent. The drug originally developed by multinational pharmaceutical company Gilead Sciences in 1996 and marketed by Roche was a blockbuster product for many years when it was being stockpiled by governments around the world for fear of a flu pandemic but has been in a steep decline due to generic competition. The drug is still controversial due to side effects around the world. In Korea, more than 1,086 side effect cases involving Tamiflu were reported in the last five years from 2013.

[ⓒ Maeil Business Newspaper & mk.co.kr, All rights reserved]