Experimental Flu Drug Proves Effective

From The Oregonian:

"AVI BioPharma Inc. on Tuesday said the company's experimental influenza drug proved effective against two strains of flu virus in animal studies.

Treated mice suffered less weight loss and lung injury after exposure to the viruses and were more likely to survive compared to untreated mice or those given a placebo. And virus levels were also significantly reduced in treated mice, researchers reported at the an international conference on antiviral research. The experiments were conducted at Tulane University School of Medicine and the United States Army Medical Research Institute for Infectious Diseases.

AVI is developing the drug as a treatment for type A influenza viruses, including those with potential to cause pandemics. The company said it intends to evaluate its compounds in additional animal models to test their potential efficacy against the highly pathogenic bird flu, or H5N1 influenza."

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See, this is where BARDA is supposed to step in and hand AVI a wad of cash. C'mon BARDA, this is exactly what you were created for. The HHS gives money to glaxo-smith-big-pharma-phizer, and BARDA's supposed to help out the little guys with the big ideas. Step up to the plate BARDA, the more antivirals we have the better.