LONDON - The Australian government has bought an additional 1.6 million courses of GlaxoSmithKline's Relenza treatment for pandemic flu.

Glaxo's partner Biota Holdings, which originally developed the medicine and earns a 10 percent royalty on Australian sales, said on Friday the purchase cost was 43 million Australian dollars ($33.7 million).

On completion of the supply contract, the Australian National Medical Stockpile will hold 3.4 million courses of Relenza, or 33 percent of the country's total stockpile of antiviral flu drugs.

(Reporting by Ben Hirschler; editing by John Stonestreet)

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