There is a saying: if the flu is treated, it will go away in 7 days, and if not treated, it will take a week. Unfortunately, no matter how hard we try, catching the virus will not make it possible to recover quickly. Although soon everything may change, because a group of scientists from the United States has developed a new drug that not only quickly copes with the virus, but also does it with virtually no side effects.
The EurekAlert edition writes about the new development and, according to the message, the medication was named baloxavir-marboxil. It is effective even against resistant forms of the influenza virus. Moreover, the drug significantly reduces the duration of symptoms and removes the virus from the body faster than known analogues.
The first phase of clinical trials of the drug has already been completed in the United States and Japan. He was tested for uncomplicated influenza. The effect of baloxavir-marboxil was similar to the five-day course of taking oseltamivir, only now it manifested itself much faster. On average, the duration of flu symptoms was 23.4-28.2 hours (and in some cases up to 48 hours) shorter in people who took the drug in clinical trials. As one of the study's lead authors, Frederick Hayden, stated, Now scientists are planning to complete a series of clinical trials and by the end of the year they hope to get approval for the release of the drug in the FDA - the US Food and Drug Administration. If all goes well, the new flu medicine will go on sale in 2018.
Vladimir Kuznetsov