General Health part of Myhealthblogging.com Channel

As quoted by Reuters, Peramivir, a new anti-viral drug to treat both avian and human flu, will be tested across Asia next month. Developed by BioCryst Pharmaceuticals (USA), Peramivir has boosted the survival rates of mice and ferrets infected with the H5N1 bird flu virus. It is therefore expected as the next-line drug to fight all types of influenza, including H5N1.

The trial will involve people seeking treatment for seasonal influenza in Hong Kong, Singapore, New Zealand and Australia.

Peramivir is a parenteral, or intravenous, anti-viral drug. William Chui of the University of Hong Kong’s Clinical Trials Center said that BioCryst needs to compare which is better: parenteral or oral drug, to brings viral loads down faster.

So far, Tamiflu (by AG/Roche) is considered the first line of defense against bird flu, although early treatment — within 48 hours of the first signs of symptoms — is pivotal. A death rate of up to 60 percent has spurred the search for other drugs and vaccines to fight the H5N1 strain, which experts fear could cause a pandemic if it ever becomes easily transmittable among people.

“In a pandemic, having an oral treatment may not be enough because intravenous treatment is more efficacious,” said Chui. “Having the drug injected means it goes straight to the bloodstream … so if you administer at the 48th hour, the body can still benefit, but an oral dose will take time to get into the blood. There will be a time lag. You have to be fast if you want to curb viral replication. Once after 48 hours, the viral load will be very high, and it will be very tough (to get rid of them).”

The development of Peramivir may be an answer to experts who want to have several antivirals to choose from in fighting all types of flu because the viruses mutate quickly. “We have seen resistance against Tamiflu in Japan where doctors dispense the drug (to fight seasonal human flu) very freely. It is time to find new treatments,” Chui said.

Topik: Avian Flu