Swiss drugmaker Roche announced Friday that it has granted a sub-license to the Indian company Hetero Drugs for the production of anti-influenza drug Tamiflu.

The agreement with Hetero is focused on providing oseltamivir for government pandemic use and will have an immediate effect on the availability in India and developing countries, Roche said in a statement.

"As a result of a period of intense production planning, we are pleased to announce the partnership with Hetero Drugs as the latest step in our scale-up efforts to meet the needs of governments in preparing for the potential public health threat posed by avian influenza," said David Reddy, Roche's Pandemic Taskforce Leader.

Earlier this month, Roche granted the first sub-license for the production of Tamiflu to China's Shanghai Pharmaceutical Group. Roche said it is also in talks with 12 other companies to let them take part in the production process.

Tamiflu is considered the most effective treatment available to counter H5N1 bird flu, and Roche has been under pressure to allow third parties to produce Tamiflu amid a surge in demand over fears that H5N1 bird flu could trigger a human influenza pandemic.

Tamiflu was invented by U.S.-based Gilead and licensed to Roche in 1996. Roche, based in Basel, now has exclusive world-wide rights for the manufacturing and marketing of the medicine.

Source: Xinhua