LONDON (Alliance News) - GlaxoSmithKline PLC Thursday backed flu treatment Relenza after a report from The Cochrane Collaboration suggested that it and Swiss healthcare company Roche Holdings AG's treatment Tamiflu have little effect.
The implications of the report are significant as governments worldwide have spent millions stockpiling the products, particularly Tamiflu, in case of flu pandemics. Tamiflu has been stockpiled in the UK since 2006 when there were concerns over a pandemic of bird flu, and it was also prescribed during the swine flu outbreak in 2009. The UK has spent over GBP400 million stockpiling the Roche drug, and spent GBP136 million in 2009 on Relenza as a backup stockpile.
The report from the Cochrane Collaboration claimed that Tamiflu and Relenza did not prevent the spread of flu or reduce dangerous complications, and only helped symptoms slightly.
Roche hit back against the report, saying it fundamentally disagrees with the its conclusion. It said it stands by the "quality and integrity of our data, reflected in decisions reached by 100 medicines regulators across the world and subsequent real-world evidence demonstrating that Tamiflu is an effective medicine in the treatment and prevention of influenza."
"The report?s methodology is often unclear and inappropriate, and their conclusions could potentially have serious public health implications," said Roche's UK Medical Director Dr.Daniel Thurley in a statement.
Roche also highlighted a recent study published in The Lancet Respiratory Medicine journal which reinforced the UK Government's choice to stockpile Tamiflu.
Glaxo also supported its treatment, although it welcomed efforts for transparency.
"We were committed to giving the Cochrane team access to the data they required from the outset and we are pleased to have been able to support their research. We?re also glad our commitments to transparency have been recognised by the team," a spokesperson for Glaxo said in a statement.
"We continue to believe the data from Relenza?s clinical trial programme support its effectiveness against flu and that when used appropriately, in the right patient, it can reduce duration of flu symptoms. Relenza remains an important option for health professionals who are responsible for deciding when these medicines should be used."
The Cochrane report used data from 46 trials, and said it had identified problems in the deign of many of the studies it had included, which affected its "confidence in their results." It found that both Tamiflu and Relenza shortened the symptoms of the flu by less than a day.
The study followed ongoing negotiations for the release of full details of the trials of the products, which have up to now been confidential and kept between manufacturers and health regulators.
Although the report questioned the efficacy of the treatments, it put the trial data under fire, saying it had concluded " that there were substantial problems with the design, conduct, reporting and availability of information from many of the trials."
Shares in Glaxo were trading down 0.1% at 1,579.50 pence Thursday morning.
By Hana Stewart-Smith; hanassmith@alliancenews.com; @HanaSSAllNews
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