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  • SATURDAY MAY 6 2006 11:00 PM

Professor Works Out Tamiflu Issue Over Weekend

Submitted by Christopher

Edited by Christopher

Right now, countries outside of the United States are stockpiling the drug Tamiflu (oseltamivir) to prepare for a Bird Flu epidemic. Tamiflu seems to be the only anti-viral drug that can help people with the flu, and the United States is sorely under stocked with approximately 2 million doses for 295 million people. France has enough to cover 23.8% of its population, and Great Britain has enough Tamiflu to cover 25% of its population. A new plant to produce Tamiflu isn’t going to be up and running until the middle of this year. Some kind of medical breakthrough is desperately needed.

Enter Nobel laureate Elias Corey.

Elias Corey's hope is that his novel approach will mean the drug is cheaper to manufacture and more plentiful.
It took him just a few minutes to work out the method while relaxing at home one weekend, the US researcher says.
Tamiflu is the anti-viral drug of choice in the world preparations for possible pandemic flu.
The Swiss manufacturer Roche has given the World Health Organization five million courses of treatment to help stamp out any incipient outbreak of the disease at source.
And with the help of global partners, the company promises to be producing four hundred million courses a year by 2007.


The solution that he worked out over the weekend has to do with how the drug is manufactured. One of the key ingredients is star anise, a plant found in China that can only be harvested once a year. The active ingredient in the plant contains a carbon ring that “has no anti-viral properties” but is used to build the rest of the anti-viral drug as a “template.”

"I happened to be at home one Saturday morning, and I took some time out to think about the problem, and within a few minutes I came up with some ideas for solving it," he told the BBC's Science in Action programme.
"I called some of my students, and said, 'would you like to try something that could save many lives', and they agreed."
Just eight weeks later, the whole process had been worked through and refined, and the product compared with genuine Tamiflu. The recipe is described in the online edition of the Journal of the American Chemical Society.


Using Corey’s method, four hundred million doses can be created in the next year.

Next weekend, Corey might tackle his overgrown garden, solve cancer, and maybe go down to the pub for a pint.

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Comments
joker_

joker_

Minneapolis, MN
October 2005

MAY 08, 2006 12:27 AM

A worldwide pandemic is car accidents.

http://www.nsc.org/lrs/statinfo/odds.htm

Yet, they aren't in a hurry to save those lives. Humans are odd.

noirkiss3

noirkiss3

Minneapolis, MN
April 2006

MAY 08, 2006 12:46 AM

joker_c86 said:
A worldwide pandemic is car accidents.

http://www.nsc.org/lrs/statinfo/odds.htm

Yet, they aren't in a hurry to save those lives. Humans are odd.



good link- I need to send it to my mother who read about the graffiti writer who was killed in DC by gang members, and now thinks I shouldn't risk it- looks like as long as i dont drive a car or motorcycle on the way there( or, heaven forbid, run into Rumsfeld) I should be fine-
weired numbers to be sure
thanx

FrankMask

FrankMask

Saint Paul, MN
June 2003

MAY 08, 2006 12:57 AM

Fatality said:

Frank said:

Fatality said:
I just don't like that people put down scientific research that they know nothing about.



It's less the science that most people condemn, than the ridiculous scare-mongering that comes with it. And, since vaccinations are hard to get and shotgun shells are easy to get, I'll continue to stockpile anti-zombie measures.



That's why I said:

Maybe we don't like the way that the media grabs onto these things, but they are real threats.


Oh. Well... Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition. And the crowbar. And that hatchet over there. And if anyone needs me, I'll be out back, diggin an apocalypse proof shelter.

Bebe

Bebe

SUICIDEGIRL

USA

MAY 08, 2006 04:49 PM

tamiflu made me puke dried toast out of my nose when I had the flu (which developed into pneumonia)...it was, to say the least, the worst drug I have ever swallowed, and made me feel so so much worse

[Edited on May 08, 2006 9:12PM]

Shal

Shal

Los Angeles, CA
October 2002

MAY 08, 2006 04:55 PM

I'm going to be terribly amused when the avian flu never makes the jump to human-to-human transmission, finishes killing off the birds it's going to kill, and is utterly forgotten in a few years.

talisman

talisman

Minneapolis, MN
November 2004

MAY 08, 2006 06:42 PM

nothing to fear but fear itself...

oh, that and the crazed semi-humans who would die if the rest of humanity led calm and peaceable, self aware and assured lives

schadenfreude

schadenfreude

Svalbard And Jan Mayen
July 2004

MAY 08, 2006 06:43 PM

Fear Everything, Advises Your Friendly Liberal Media.

Bah.

The last great influenza pandemics occurred in a world that was medically and technologically inept. Even if a particularly snarly strain started around, it would probably have a far smaller mortality rate than those seen in the pandemics.

And it's amazing to me that people get bent out of shape about this, but have no fear regarding multidrug resistant bacterial infections, especially those of the nosocomial variety.

FrankMask

FrankMask

Saint Paul, MN
June 2003

MAY 08, 2006 11:20 PM

Shalome said:
I'm going to be terribly amused when the avian flu never makes the jump to human-to-human transmission, finishes killing off the birds it's going to kill, and is utterly forgotten in a few years.



Next year it will be Martian Frog Pox, and the same hullabaloo all over again. And then no one will get frog pox, so the year after they'll hold Cthonian Tongue Rot over the heads of the general public.

I'm afraid of people who aren't afraid of multi-drug resistant bacteria.

[Edited on May 09, 2006 by Frank]

FridgeMagnet

FridgeMagnet

Chicago, IL
November 2004

MAY 08, 2006 11:48 PM

Fatality said:

jnfuk said:
Does anybody else remember SARS?

If it's not one thing, it's another.



Maybe we don't like the way that the media grabs onto these things, but they are real threats.

You all should be thankful that so much attention is paid to them so that they don't have the potential negative effects that they could have.

I have been studying the evolutionary properties of the H5N1 virus for the last year. Believe me, it is real. Whether it's "likely" to happen doesn't mean that we shouldn't pay attention to it. Even if there's only a small percent chance that it could happen, we have to be prepared for it. There are a lot of similarities between this and the 1918 Spanish influenza epidemic.

I just don't like that people put down scientific research that they know nothing about.



Thank you Thank you!!! I wish in general people would stop flapping their gums about stuff that they know nothing about.

noirkiss3

noirkiss3

Minneapolis, MN
April 2006

MAY 09, 2006 12:27 AM

schadenfreude said:
Fear Everything, Advises Your Friendly Liberal Media.

Bah.

The last great influenza pandemics occurred in a world that was medically and technologically inept. Even if a particularly snarly strain started around, it would probably have a far smaller mortality rate than those seen in the pandemics.

And it's amazing to me that people get bent out of shape about this, but have no fear regarding multidrug resistant bacterial infections, especially those of the nosocomial variety.


medical ineptitude is relative- I bet all the dissenters would have been against fighting AIDS IN THE 80'S

the rational seems to be- EVERYTHING MIGHT BE NOTHING, SO WHY BE PREPARED? what is the real argument against research, are you being asked to volunteer or something?

Coliwali

Coliwali

I'm lost
February 2003

MAY 09, 2006 01:10 AM

noirkiss3 said:

schadenfreude said:
Fear Everything, Advises Your Friendly Liberal Media.

Bah.

The last great influenza pandemics occurred in a world that was medically and technologically inept. Even if a particularly snarly strain started around, it would probably have a far smaller mortality rate than those seen in the pandemics.

And it's amazing to me that people get bent out of shape about this, but have no fear regarding multidrug resistant bacterial infections, especially those of the nosocomial variety.


medical ineptitude is relative- I bet all the dissenters would have been against fighting AIDS IN THE 80'S

the rational seems to be- EVERYTHING MIGHT BE NOTHING, SO WHY BE PREPARED? what is the real argument against research, are you being asked to volunteer or something?



Bingo. We can pay a relatively small amount of money to prepare for possible risks or we can do nothing and eventually pay a great deal when the odds catch up with us.

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