Glaxo Wellcome has renewed its pressure for Relenza to be allowed on the National Health Service. It says that its drug, banned from NHS prescribing on the advice of the National Institute for Clinical Excellence, could ease the strain of the current 'flu epidemic.
In letters to the Secretary of State for Health (Mr Alan Milburn) and the National Institute for Clinical Excellence, the company says: "Given the current situation and the limited options available to the NHS, our view is that controlled use of Relenza for the treatment of selected patients could make a difference."
The company says that in a five-week period to January 4, doctors in Britain wrote fewer than 8,000 prescriptions for Relenza, compared by 163,000 in Italy, 27,000 in France and 17,000 in Switzerland.
The National Prescribing Centre estimated last year that the NHS could face a bill of £115m for Relenza prescriptions in the event of a 'flu epidemic.