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Maggie Fox of Reuters brings us details tonight of a new, experimental antiviral being developed and tested in Japan, that one day could end up as another arrow in our quiver against pandemic and seasonal influenza.
Mouse studies are encouraging, and phase III human studies are expected to begin shortly.
New Japanese flu drug protects mice from avian flu
Mon Dec 21, 2009 3:00pm EST
By Maggie Fox, Health and Science Editor
WASHINGTON, Dec 21 (Reuters) - An experimental influenza drug can protect mice against H5N1 avian influenza better than the preferred drug Tamiflu, researchers reported on Monday.
The drug, called T-705 or favipiravir, is made by Fujifilm Holdings Corp (4901.T) unit Toyama Chemical Co. It works differently from Tamiflu and Relenza and seems to work at lower doses, the researchers reported in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Tamiflu, Roche AG (ROG.VX) and Gilead Sciences Inc's (GILD.O) popular pill and Relenza, GlaxoSmithKline's (GSK.L) (GSK.N) and Biota Inc's (BTA.AX) inhaled flu drug, must be given with 48 hours to be fully effective.
"This compound works much better, even three days after infection," Yoshihiro Kawaoka of the University of Tokyo and the University of Wisconsin said in a statement.
"Our results suggest that T-705 is safe and effective in combating H5N1 influenza viruses and is, thus, a promising candidate antiviral for the treatment of highly pathogenic H5N1 patients," Kawaoka and colleagues wrote.
While mouse studies don’t always predict how a drug will work in humans, this is certainly encouraging news. We are, however, some time away from seeing this new drug on the pharmacy shelf.
The press release from the University of Wisconsin is below.
Public release date: 21-Dec-2009
Contact: Yoshihiro Kawaoka
kawaokay@svm.vetmed.wisc.edu
608-265-4925
University of Wisconsin-MadisonCompound found to safely counter deadly bird flu
MADISON — The specter of a drug-resistant form of the deadly H5N1 avian influenza is a nightmare to keep public health officials awake at night.
Now, however, a study published this week (Dec. 21) in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) suggests that a new compound, one on the threshold of final testing in humans, may be more potent and safer for treating "bird flu" than the antiviral drug best known by the trade name Tamiflu.
Known as T-705, the compound even works several days after infection, according to Yoshihiro Kawaoka, a University of Wisconsin-Madison virologist and the senior author of the new PNAS study.
"H5N1 virus is so pathogenic even Tamiflu doesn't protect all the infected animals," explains Kawaoka, a professor of pathobiological sciences at the UW-Madison School of Veterinary Medicine and a world authority on influenza. "This compound works much better, even three days after infection."
The Wisconsin research was conducted in mice and demonstrated that the compound was effective and safe against H5N1 virus, the highly pathogenic bird flu virus, which some scientists fear could spark a global epidemic of deadly influenza. The compound is also effective against seasonal flu and more worrisome varieties such as the H1N1 virus, and has already been tested against circulating seasonal influenza in humans in Japan where it is on the brink of Phase III clinical trials in people.
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