Tamiflu Sales Plunge 60% - Drug Company Misses Profit Projections

Governments, Corporations Stockpiles Full

Roche Holding, as the parent company of Roche Pharmaceuticals, flooded the world with billions of dollars worth of Tamiflu in 2005 and 2006.

So widespread and influential was its marketing campaign for the anti-viral Tamiflu, off the back of very real concerns of a bird flu pandemic, that "government and corporation stockpiling plans (have) largely been completed." Roche now says "no significant new orders had been received."

Sales for Tamiflu fell some 60% for the third quarter.

Sounds like Roche will now have to announce a new kind of anti-viral, or alleged preventative, for dealing with the H5N1 virus in humans.

Another incredible fact gleamed from this story - in just nine months, Roche sold almost $30 billion worth of pharmaceutical products.