What is the raw material of Tamiflu, and how effective is it in treating influenza?

What is the effect of treating influenza? With the development of the global H5N 1 subtype highly pathogenic avian influenza epidemic, the Chinese government and enterprises are stepping up the reserve and production of anti-avian influenza drugs respectively. Tamiflu produced by Roche, Switzerland, is in a leading position in the reserve of anti-avian influenza drugs in many countries around the world and has become the most effective pre-treatment drug recommended by the World Health Organization. Tamiflu is also one of the main drugs in Chinese mainland's planned avian influenza drug reserve. 90% shikimic acid, the main raw material of Tamiflu, comes from Chinese mainland. Roche claimed to relax the production license, and mainland enterprises in China actively requested to cooperate with Roche to produce Tamiflu locally or to develop and produce products similar to Tamiflu. However, Shaanxi Hui Ke Plant Development Co., Ltd., the first enterprise in xi to produce shikimic acid, has stopped producing shikimic acid for a simple reason: star anise, the raw material for extracting shikimic acid, can't be bought. In addition, the shikimic acid production lines of Xi Antaihua Natural Bio-pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., Xi Anyi Bio-pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. and Xi Indjeff Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. also stopped running. After Tamiflu is considered as the most effective drug for avian influenza so far, the demand for Tamiflu in the global market has expanded, and shikimic acid, the main raw material of Tamiflu, has suddenly become a hot commodity, and the price has increased several times. It is understood that shikimic acid was mainly used to manufacture drugs such as tumors and anti-inflammation, and the market demand was not great. There are only a handful of enterprises engaged in shikimic acid refining, mainly concentrated in Xi 'an, and the scale of enterprises is generally small. Moreover, shikimic acid is considered as a secondary product in almost every company's product structure and is not in a dominant position. Influenza A (H 1N 1) is prevalent recently, so it is effective to use oseltamivir in the early stage of infection.