Indonesia to start making Tamiflu

Indonesia on Friday said it would begin producing the bird flu drug Tamiflu. Hard-hit Vietnam reported another outbreak of the virus among poultry.

Swiss-based drug manufacturer Roche Holding AG said it would let Indonesia produce the drug and the country would start making it as soon as it decided whether to get the raw materials from China or Korea, said Health Minister Siti Fadilah Supari.

Roche refused to comment on whether it was offering Indonesia any technical assistance.

Tamiflu has shown promise in the treatment of human H5N1 bird flu infections.

The announcement came the same day the country announced that bird flu had been detected in poultry throughout Jakarta.