You're reading: Kharkiv pharmacy factory Zdorovja ready to produce drug to treat swine flu

Kharkiv's Zdorovja pharmaceuticals factory is ready to start production under a state order of the drug Ozeltamivir, which has been used to treat bird flu and may be effective in the treatment of swine flu.

The factory received the technology for the production of this drug from the founder of the Health of the Nation charity foundation, Borys Lytovsky.

“I’ve bought and transfered the technology for the production of Oseltamivir from two companies – Hetero and Strikes. These two companies are the world leaders and licensees of original drugs,” Lytovsky said at a press conference in Kyiv on Thursday.

According to Lytovsky, if this drug is produced, Ukraine will have a comprehensive response to any possible swine flu pandemic.

In addition, according to him, Ukraine may become a supplying country of the drug to nearby regions.

An expert on epizootology and flu, Ludmyla Sassina, said at a press conference that this medicine was recommended by the World Health Organization as a preventative measure against the spread of bird flu and may be used for the treatment of swine flu.

Sassina noted that Oseltamivir is registered in Ukraine as a medicine.

The director general of the Zdorovje pharmaceuticals factory, Jonas Tryggvason, noted in turn that the factory could produce a batch of this drug within three weeks of an order being placed.

A representative of Hetero company said at a press conference that the company is at the moment supplying Oseltamivir to the Mexican government.