Read more: Local, Education, Health, Roche Carolina, Increases, Production, Tamiflu Ingredient
The H1N1 pandemic has forced Roche Carolina of Florence to ramp up its production of the active ingredient in Tamiflu, a drug used to fight the flu.
They increased production last month, and say they had no plans to even manufacture the Tamiflu ingredient this production quarter. Roche Carolina is a part of a global supply chain that makes the active ingredient in Tamiflu.
Officials at the pharmaceutical company say they had stocked it for the seasonal flu, but when the H1N1 flu became a pandemic, they started receiving major orders from all over the world. Roche officials say had to adjust their production plans, but say they're on track with their orders.
"We know that we are ahead of our schedule in terms of production. We were able to turn the plant around very quickly in order to start manufacturing Tamiflu. We're about a week ahead of the production schedule so everybody's doing a very very good job in meeting our demand and our orders," said Pete Mazzaroni, Roche Carolina.
Mazzaroni says they can supply up to 400 million doses of the Tamiflu ingredient, along with their global supply chain.
Roche Carolina has been in Florence since 1995 and now employs more than 300 people.
