Roche sees lower 2007 pandemic Tamiflu sales

BASEL, Switzerland (Reuters) - Roche Holding AG (ROG.VX: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) expects 2007 sales of its Tamiflu drug to governments and other organizations building stockpiles in the event of a pandemic to be lower this year than last.

The Swiss drugmaker on Wednesday predicted pandemic sales of 0.8 billion to 1.2 billion Swiss francs ($640-960 million) for the influenza medicine, down from 1.8 billion in 2006, according to an investor presentation on the company's web site.

Pandemic sales accounted for 70 percent of all Tamiflu revenues last year.