The bird flu pandemic has failed to materialize, which is putting a damper on Roche’s hope for huge sales of its Tamiflu med. So the drugmaker is offering the equivalent of a blue-light special to corporate America - pay an annual fee and reserve enough Tamiflu to protect every worker if a pandemic strikes. The fee will be $6 for each course of treatment.

The plan comes as Washington tries to convince businesses to stockpile drugs in the event of a pandemic and to supplement national stockpiles that can treat only part of the population. Of course, stockpiling is expensive, because it requires rotating in new supplies whenever doses expire. Roche argues its plan makes it easier to invest in Tamiflu.

If and when a company decides to take possession of the medicine – for example, if a novel strain of influenza virus begins human-to-human spread – they can purchase their dedicated product from Roche at the prevailing wholesale price, according to a statement from the drugmaker.

The Department of Health and Human Services is support the plan and held an unusual joint briefing with Roche. “I think it is unprecedented in that we are facing an unprecedented threat,” Tevi Troy, an HHS deputy secretary, told reporters in the briefing, Reuters writes. “We said we are not subsidizing this effort by Roche in any way. We are encouraging it.”