Australian law professor says break the Tamiflu patent

from UPI:

Public health specialist Dr. Buddhi Lokuge and Professor Peter Drahos, an Australian National University law professor and head of the Regulatory Institutions Network, called on Australia to begin replenishing avian flu antiviral stocks.

They said Australia can't get more of the antivirals because of the patents held by companies who aren't producing enough.

They say governments have the obligation to help their citizens despite patents, and giving generic manufacturers the rights would enable a cheap, mass produced product to be on the health system's shelves if needed in a flu outbreak.

Of course, here, the actual patent holder Gilead is also complaining about the lack of production by the exclusive licensee, Roche Holdings, a fact overlooked by law professor Drahos.

***
A starting material in the synthesis of Tamiflu (shikimic acid, 3,4,5-Trihydroxy-1-Cyclohexene-1-Carboxylic Acid; 3,4,5-Trihydroxy-1- cyclohexene carboxylic acid) can be derived from the star anise plant.

from US 5,763,483 to Bischofberger et al. of Gilead:

Other aspects of the invention are directed to methods of using shikimic acid to prepare compound 270 shown as A in Schemes 36, methods of using compound 270 to prepare compound 271 shown as B in Schemes 36, methods of using compound 271 to prepare compound 272 shown as C in Schemes 36, methods of using compound 272 to prepare compound 273 shown as D in Schemes 36, ...

Epoxy alcohol 1: Prepared from shikimic acid by the procedure of McGowan and Berchtold, "J. Org. Chem.", 46:2381 (1981).


The '483 patent cites:
Ganem, Bruce, "Tetrahedron Report Number 59. From Glucose to Aromatics: Recent Developments in Natural Products of the Shikimic Acid Pathway," Tetrahedron 34:3353-3383 (1978).