51¶¯Âþ

The flu treatment Relenza looks unlikely to be made available on the National
Health Service in Britain. As 51¶¯Âþ went to press, the National
Institute for Clinical Excellence was thought to have advised against releasing
the drug, which limits symptoms and hastens recovery. Richard Sykes, chairman of
Glaxo Wellcome, the drug’s maker, is incensed. Yet a company data sheet prepared
in August states that the drug has yet to be shown to work in chronically ill or
immunocompromised patients, who are most at risk from complications of the
flu.