The Swiss made a rare incursion into the Irish mindset last Wednesday, when their football team’s stolid defense at Lansdowne Road denied the Irish team a place in the World Cup Finals, which will be staged next year in Germany. Given the woeful performance of the Irish team, some pundits have claimed that the Swiss have spared the Irish deeper blushes–for if they had somehow made it to Germany, the team’s ineptitude would have been mercilessly exposed to a global audience.But although it’s easy to forgive the Swiss for denying us our place in the sun in Germany, a far greater reason emerged recently for grudging that prosperous Alpine nation. Apart from watches, cheese, chocolate, and money laundering, Switzerland is world renowned for its world-class pharmaceutical industry. And Roche, the largest Swiss drug company, just happens to have a monopoly on Tamiflu, the only antiviral drug that seems somewhat effective in treating the flu’s symptoms. Unfortunately, given the recent news that bird fly has reached mainland Europe (an outbreak has been confirmed in Romania), the feverish (no pun intended) demand for the drug has far outstripped supply. Unfortunately, it doesn’t look as though production will be ramped up fast enough if the situation worsens. According to the BBC:

… Roche has said the 10-step year-long production method of Tamiflu was too complex to be outsourced to other companies to boost supplies, and it would take other companies up to three years to be ready to produce the drug.It has so issued no direct comment on Cipla’s announcement.But a Roche spokesman said: “We fully intend to remain the sole manufacturer of Tamiflu, together with our partners.

However, despite the claim that the production of Tamiflu is a fiendishly complex process, spokespeople in Taiwan claim that their scientific teams would be capable of producing a generic version of the drug with two weeks. However, Roche has halted the Taiwanese efforts, prompting one Taipei City councilman to argue that “In the face of a world pandemic threat, Roche cares more about profit than human lives.”But surely that accusation is going too far. Hasn’t history taught us that Swiss businesses have always been reluctant to enrich themselves during global crises? (By the way, I’m being sarcastic…WWII and all that.)