Roche is apparently discontent that sales of its Tamiflu influenza drug have dropped and seeks new ways to market its product. The pharmaceutical company has launched a call for companies to "stockpile" the stuff, through a reservation system which would guarantee them availability should a pandemic break out.

The fee would be somewhere around $6 per treatment course per year. The catch is that the drug would be bought, should the company need it for its employees, at full wholesale price. The business plan is backed by the U.S. Health and Human Services Department, which said that while it won't subsidize it in any way, it supports the idea.

Allegedly, the campaign was initiated after repeated requests from companies who wanted a reservation system for guaranteed access to the flu vaccine.

The downside is that a small but significant number of flu viruses resistant to Tamiflu have been detected in more than a dozen European countries, the World Health Organization said in late January. Data showed that Roche Holding AG’s Tamiflu, also known as oseltamivir, seems to not be effective in about 13 percent of H1N1 viruses, the main flu strain causing illness this year.

The strain is resistant because of a single mutation. The new strain, called H274Y gene mutation, does not cause more serious disease than regular strains, and can respond to other antivirals. However, health experts worry that Tamiflu may become useless if the resistance become widespread.

The warning was followed by another one at a conference held in Geneva on May 6. At the event, World Health Organization experts warned on the increased risk of a human bird flu pandemic, as the bird flu virus gains more ground than ever. Tamiflu is thought to be moderately effective in human bird flu.