An experimental drug could eliminate the flu virus in just one day

A Japanese drug maker has announced that it has developed a pill that can eliminate the flu virus on the first day of administration, amid the worst flu epidemic in the United States in recent years, according to The Wall Street Journal.

An advanced study of influenza patients in Japan and the United States found that the administration of the drug produced by Shionogi Co. destroys the virus in an average of 24 hours.

Therefore, healing is much faster than any other drug on the market. In the case of the Tamiflu pill from Roche AG, considered the most effective, the study showed that it takes three times longer to get the same result as the experimental drug.

Rapid elimination of the flu virus could reduce its contagious effects, according to Shionogi. The new experimental drug is given in a single dose, while in the case of Tamiflu patients have to take two doses a day for five days.

“The data we’ve seen is very promising. It could be an innovation in how the flu is treated,” said Martin Howell Friede, coordinator of the World Health Organization’s Vaccine Research Initiative (IVR).

Scientists at the Japanese company used the characteristics of an anti-HIV drug to create the anti-flu compound, which works differently from existing drugs. It prevents the virus from affecting human cellular processes, according to CEO Isao Teshirogi.

The Swiss company Roche obtained the international license for the distribution of the experimental drug of the Shionogi company, which could be approved for use in Japan at the beginning of March. Roche will apply for the launch of the product on the US market only this summer, but a decision in this regard is expected in 2019.

At least 40 children have died and more than 12,000 people have been hospitalized in the United States as a result of the flu epidemic, the worst in recent years. The most affected categories are children and people aged between 50 and 64, followed by the elderly. All 50 US states, except Hawaii, reported high flu activity.

– .