NanoViricides has announced that its FluCide drug candidates could reduce levels of infectious virus in animals lungs having a deadly level of influenza virus infection. This will held enhance animal survival and protect lungs from the influenza virus that damages the tissue in FluCide-treated animals in the most recent H1N1 influenza study.
The lungs of infected animals were treated with three of the FluCide nanoviricide drug candidates. The treatment reduced the infectious virus when tested on four days after infection. Animals treated with Oseltamivir (Tamiflu, Roche) revealed less than a two fold reduction in lung virus in the same period.
Two of the maximized drug candidates retained this minimized lung virus at intervals of 7, 13 and 19 days after infection over a 21 day period. This treatment appeared to guard against infection, virus growth and infection spread which happens after the first infection. This reaction was not replicated in the oseltamivir-treated animals.
The laboratory tests were conducted by Dr. Krishna Menon at KARD Scientific, Massachusetts. One million virus nano-particles of Influenza A Strain A/WS/33 (H1N1) were directly injected into the lungs of mice. An equal amount of virus infection was repeated after 22 hours. The influenza model was monitored to be uniformly deadly in all the infected and untreated mice within five days. Administration of FluCide candidates and Oseltamivir started one day after the first infection.
According to Eugene Seymour, chief executive officer of the company, this enhanced reduction in viral count could also help treat bird flu infections.
Source: http://www.nanoviricides.com/