Company claims herbal treatment for bird flu

Bangkok Post | Dec 9, 2006

A Singapore-based company has extracted key active ingredients from the elderberry to create herbal lozenges that could rival Tamiflu, HerbalScience claimed Saturday.

The firm claims that its pills are more effective than Tamiflu, the oral antiviral drug used against bird flu.

The raw elderberry comes from a farm in Austria, John McClelland, senior vice-president for HerbalScience, told The Straits Times. Elderberries are freeze-dried and delivered to the processing plant in Singapore.

The extract, delivered in the form of lozenges, will be on the market in January at a cost of 3 to 5 Singapore dollars (1.92-3.20 US dollars) for a one-day dosage.