In a fairly uncharacteristic move, the European Medicines Agency said that the anti-viral medication Tamiflu could be used as long as two years after the given shelf life expires. The agency said that in response to the possibility of a pandemic, they were recommending that stocks of Tamiflu not be thrown away for at least seven years after the date of manufacture. It is hoped that their statement will ease pressure on Roche, the pharmaceutical company that manufactures the drug. Roche has recently received large-scale orders from the British government.
Roche today themselves announced plans to donate 5.64 million doses of Tamiflu to the World Health Organisation, to assist them in their efforts to combat swine flu. In a statement, the company said that production would be massively boosted over the coming months. Over the next five months they said they were intending to produce another 110 million doses of the anti-viral medication.