Bush administration prepares to spend billions on Tamiflu

The Bush administration is considering spending billions of dollars to stockpile Roche's Tamiflu to help fight off a threatened avian flu pandemic. But Democrats in Congress were quick to criticize the administration for being too slow to recognize the threat. They say that European countries and Japan have already ordered the bulk of Tamiflu that is available, leaving the US to pay a premium to follow suit.

- read this story from The New York Times for more

PLUS: Fears of avian flu have reignited interest, and testing, of Birmingham, Alabama-based BioCryst's flu drug peramivir. The drug failed four years ago when not enough active ingredients entered the bloodstream. Now the biotech wants to see if an injectable version will perform better. Article

ALSO: Health Secretary Mike Leavitt said that the world is "woefully unprepared" for an avian flu pandemic. That stark warning was issued as representatives from 80 nations meet in Washington, DC, to try and coordinate plans to contain any potential outbreak. Report