A hospital official holds Tamiflu tablets in Jakarta on Monday. (AFP)

Mumbai, April 27: Domestic pharmaceutical major Cipla is looking to cash in on the swine flu, which is threatening to derail the tender recovery attempts of the world economy.

Cipla, which created a flutter a few years ago with its cheap anti-AIDS drug, today said it could supply 1.5 million doses of the generic version of Tamiflu.

Tamiflu is a product of Swiss pharma giant Roche and can be used in the treatment of the flu. The other drug that has been identified for cure is Glaxo SmithKline’s Relenza.

Senior officials of Cipla today said the company was in a position to export the drug. Cipla now sells the generic Tamiflu in India at a price of Rs 1,000 for 10 capsules.

On the Bombay Stock Exchange, the Cipla share closed at Rs 243.70, a rise of 1.8 per cent over its previous close.

However, analysts are cautious about the prospects of the Mumbai-based company.

“At the current level (swine flu), it’s unlikely that Cipla will get a chance. However, should the swine flu spread and sustain and if Glaxo and Roche run out of their stocks, Cipla could be called in,” Bino Pathiparampil of IIFL Capital told The Telegraph.

According to Pathiparampil, both Roche and Glaxo have adequate stocks to take care of any demand.

Swine influenza, or flu, is reportedly a contagious respiratory disease that affects pigs.

The virus has killed more than 100 in Mexico and spread to the US. The World Health Organisation said the outbreak was a “public health emergency of international concern” that could become a pandemic, or a global outbreak of a serious disease.

The World Bank estimated in 2008 that a flu pandemic could cost $3 trillion and result in a nearly 5 per cent drop in the world gross domestic product.

Global stock prices reacted sharply to the reports of the flu spreading from Mexico to the US.

Most of the European indices were trading in the red, and travel and airline stocks were the worst affected.

However, pharma stocks gained, with Glaxo Smithkline and Roche trading in the green.