New Pill May Kill the Flu Virus in Patients in 24 Hours

Japanese drug maker Shionogi has created an experimental compound delivered via a single-dose pill that has been shown to effectively kill the influenza (flu) virus in patients within a single day. In a Phase III clinical trial of baloxavir marboxil, the average amount of time the compound took to kill the virus in otherwise healthy adults was just more than 24 hours. That is in contrast to participants treated with Tamiflu (oseltamivir), which took 72 hours to kill the flu virus, and those given a placebo, which took 96 hours to heal from the flu. The drug works by blocking an enzyme the virus uses to reproduce itself in infected cells. And, it targets both the A and B types of flu virus.

The advantages of the experimental compound are twofold: 1) The overall time to alleviate symptoms was similar with both baloxavir marboxil and oseltamivir, but the experimental drug provides immediate relief faster, which may help to curb the virus’s contagiousness. 2) It is a single-dose delivery, compared with oseltamivir’s 10-dose regimen (two doses daily for five days). “The advantage is that it’s one pill once, versus a course of therapy, so particularly for pandemic planning, this could be an advantage,” said the head of co-developer Roche’s pharma unit, Daniel O’Day. (Roche is the manufacturer of Tamiflu.) “You don’t have the potential resistance that comes with not completing your course of therapy.”

In February, Japan’s healthy ministry approved the drug, and it is expected to be available there in May. Roche, which will have the rights to distribute the drug internationally, will apply for approval to sell the drug in the U.S. this summer, with a decision expected sometime in 2019.