美国拟大量购药应对禽流感
  
US in talks to buy a record supply of pandemic flu drug
据制药商罗氏(Roche)介绍，美国正商讨购买创纪录数量的抗病毒药物达菲(Tamiflu)，以应对日益增长的关于流感爆发的国际担忧。
The US is in discussions to buy record volumes of the antiviral drug Tamiflu in an effort to respond to growing international concern about the threat of pandemic flu, according to the manufacturer.
《金融时报》的估算显示，这笔交易的价值可能超过10亿美元，它可能将达菲提升到治疗和预防流感“畅销” 药的地位，虽然要生产足够数量的这种药或许会遭遇产能制约。
The value of the deal, which Financial Times calculations suggest might exceed $1bn, could lift Tamiflu to the status of a “blockbuster” drug to both treat and help prevent flu, though the production of sufficient volumes may encounter manufacturing constraints.
此次谈判之前，美国刚刚遭受卡特里娜飓风的袭击，布什政府正竭力证明其应对国内紧急情况的能力。
The talks come as the Bush administration is struggling to demonstrate its ability to cope with domestic emergencies in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.
瑞士制药公司罗氏的病毒学负责人戴维·莱迪(David Reddy)说：“我们正与美国政府就采购相当数量的达菲进行谈判，此次采购将使美国成为全球准备最充分的国家之一。”
David Reddy, head of virology at Roche, the Swiss manufacturer, said: “We are currently in discussion with the US for the purchase of significant quantities of Tamiflu that would put it among the best prepared in the world.”
他不愿透露采购的价格或数量，但作为防止流感大面积爆发计划的一部分，罗氏在近几个月已向30多个国家出售了达菲，这些国家均已配置了足够供应全国25%人口的库存。
He would not elaborate on price or quantity but Roche has sold Tamiflu to more than 30 countries in recent months as part of pandemic plans, most of which have allocated stockpiles of the drug sufficient to cover 25 per cent of the population.
美国的这笔大额新订单，将与其现有库存数量形成对比，目前的库存只能供不到440万人使用。按照现有政策，库存将增加到刚好2000万人的用量，占美国总人口的7%。
A significant fresh order in the US would stand in contrast with its current stockpiles, which hold sufficient quantities for fewer than 4.4m people, and which are earmarked to grow to just 20m, or 7 per cent of the population, under existing policy.
临床研究表明，达菲对于包括H5N1型禽流感在内的目前各类流感均有疗效。很多科学家担心，H5N1禽流感可能成为人类流行疾病大面积爆发的源头。
Clinical studies have shown Tamiflu to be effective against all existing flu strains as well as the H5N1 strain of bird flu that many scientists fear could become the basis for a human pandemic.
但是，达菲的效果限于在最长一天半的时间里减轻症状，而且在所需剂量以及未来广泛使用后的抗药性等方面仍有疑问。
However, its effect is limited to reducing symptoms by up to 1.5 days, and there are still questions about the dosage required and future drug resistance if it is widely taken.