Scott McPherson's Web Presence

I have been a vocal advocate for the mass stockpiling of the antiviral inhalant Relenza, or zanamivir, for some time.  The idea of giving first responders pills to take just doesn't seem to be the right way to go.  The idea is to try and prevent influenza in those first responders, and a 45-day course of a pill a day sounded a little excessive.

Relenza is not as effective as Tamiflu when you have the flu, because it is hard to inhale the medicine deep into the lungs, where, for example, H5N1 likes to go.  But a convenient inhaler in a container that can fit into a utility pocket -- NOW we're talking proactive, easily-administered antiviral dosages!

Yesterday's Bloomberg article regarding the effectiveness of a more potent version of Relenza, manufactured by a Japanese company, should help to promote Relenza as a must-have antiviral in everyone's stockpile -- if your stockpile includes preventing bird flu as well as limiting its symptoms.  I can tell you that my antiviral stockpiling has switched from acquiring any more Tamiflu, to acquiring Relenza.  And, of course, the state antiviral programs under the federal deal with Roche mandate a default 80/20 split between Tamiflu and Relenza.  So for those states who elected to participate in the HHS program, 20% of your stockpile includes Relenza.  Get those dosages out quickly to your first responders whenever the pandemic starts.

Longer-Acting Relenza Fights Flu as Well as Tamiflu (Update1)
By Jason Gale

July 31 (Bloomberg) -- Daiichi Sankyo Co.'s longer-acting version of GlaxoSmithKline Plc's flu drug, Relenza, was as effective as a course of Tamiflu, a patient study found.

The safety and efficacy of a single dose of the inhaled medicine was ``statistically indistinguishable'' from a twice-a- day dose of Roche Holding AG's Tamiflu taken for five days, said Melbourne-based Biota Holdings Ltd., which is developing the drug with Japan's Daiichi Sankyo. The study, involving ``several hundred'' patients with seasonal flu, was the second of three stages of human trials usually needed for regulatory approval.

The companies plan to start final-stage tests in Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong and South Korea by the Northern Hemisphere winter, Biota said in a statement today. If approved, the medicine could provide a new treatment for flu, a disease causing 250,000 to 500,000 deaths worldwide a year. Previous studies also showed the medicine fights the H5N1 version of bird flu, which world health officials say might set off a lethal pandemic.

``If it's successful, then it would be a very useful drug,'' Scott Power, an equities analyst with ABN Amro Morgans Ltd. in Brisbane, Australia, said today by telephone. He rates Biota's shares ``buy.''

Biota gained 2.5 Australian cents, or 3.6 percent, to 72.5 cents on the Australian Stock Exchange. Power expects the shares to reach A$1.30 within the next 12 months.

Shares of Daiichi Sankyo, Japan's third-largest drugmaker, increased 80 yen, or 2.6 percent, to 3,190 yen on the Tokyo Stock Exchange at 11 a.m. local time.

Governments worldwide are stockpiling anti-flu medicines, including Tamiflu and Relenza, to reduce the severity and spread of disease in the event of a pandemic. A treatment that's taken only once, rather than twice a day for five days, would reduce the amount of medicine needed to be kept on hand, Power said.

Daiichi's experimental medicine, known as CS-8958, is in the same class of antiviral as Tamiflu and Relenza, which works by preventing flu viruses from spreading from infected cells.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601101&sid=aDCmbqrVxu3M&refer=japan