Roche’s Tamiflu for children temporarily in short supply in U.S.

In what is shaping up to be a tough and widespread flu season in the United States, one of the leading medicines used to treat children with the sometimes deadly virus is in short supply. "There has been strong and early demand for Tamiflu Oral Suspension (OS) and we are experiencing a temporary delay in the packaging of Tamiflu OS," said Tara Iannuccillo, a spokeswoman for Roche Holding AG's Genentech unit which manufactures the drug and uses distributors to supply retail pharmacies with the product. Tamiflu is used to reduce the severity of the flu when taken at the outset of symptoms. The oral suspension of the drug is primarily prescribed for children under the age of 13 and for people who have difficulty swallowing.