Tamiflu expiry date can be extended
Updated on 08 May 2009
Tamiflu's five-year shelf life can be extended by two years, medical experts said.
The recommendation from the European Medicines Agency is likely to be approved speedily by the European Commission, and will apply to all newly-manufactured Tamiflu capsules.
The London-based agency has also recommended that the five-year expiry date on existing Tamiflu capsules can be ignored too, during a pandemic.
"In view of the recent outbreak of the novel influenza A/H1N1 virus, the European Medicines Agency has also reviewed ways to use Tamiflu capsules in case of a shortage," said an Agency statement.
"The Agency's Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use recommended that Tamiflu capsules that are already on the market may be used for up to two more years after their current five-year expiry date during a declared pandemic.
"Patients who have Tamiflu capsules that have recently expired should not dispose of them because they might be needed during a novel influenza A/H1N1 pandemic."
The statement said both recommendations resulted from a study of how to prevent shortages of antiviral medicines such as Tamiflu, which were key in managing flu pandemics because appropriate vaccines were not normally available during an outbreak's early stages.
"These recommendations will only apply if a pandemic has been declared by the World Health Organisation," the statement added.
The Agency has also issued guidance on the use of Tamiflu in young children and pregnant and breastfeeding women.
The experts say that, during an officially-declared A/H1N1 pandemic "the benefits of the use of Tamiflu outweigh its risks in the treatment of children under the age of one".
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