Morton Grove Pharmaceuticals increases production of antiviral flu drug, Amantadine

Nov 8 2004

During the current flu vaccine shortage, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Department of Health and Human Services, has issued guidance recommending the use of certain alternative antiviral medications.

Those unable to secure the flu vaccine may refer to these CDC guidelines. The recommended antiviral drugs outlined in the CDC guidelines include Morton Grove Pharmaceuticals' generic drug, Amantadine.

In order to meet the increase in demand for Amantadine resulting from the flu vaccine shortage, Morton Grove Pharmaceuticals immediately responded to a request by the Food and Drug Administration by making emergency arrangements to obtain raw materials from Europe to increase production of their Amantadine HCl Syrup, USP 50 mg/mL.

"We are anticipating a dramatic increase in demand for Amantadine over the flu season and we are preparing to meet that demand. We are the leading supplier of the oral liquid form of Amantadine and will make sure we do our share as best we can for the public good," said Brian Tambi, President and CEO of Morton Grove Pharmaceuticals.

Allen Bradley, Director of Marketing, Morton Grove Pharmaceuticals said: "We specialize in providing liquid prescription pharmaceutical drugs as a more convenient and preferred dose form to tablets or capsules. With a product like Amantadine, our syrup form is a much-needed alternative for children over one year of age and for adults who prefer good-tasting liquids to solid oral dosage forms."

Morton Grove Pharmaceuticals based in Morton Grove, Illinois specializes in the development and manufacture of generic oral liquid pharmaceuticals dispensed under a physician's prescription. The Company is the leader within this pharmaceutical market and has a growing and strong research and development capability in oral liquid pharmaceutical drug development. The Company manufactures all of its drug products, which are dispensed through physicians' prescriptions, for distribution throughout the United States.