March 28, 2024
Flu virus neutered in new therapy
LA JOLLA--Scientists may have found a remarkably effective treatment against multiple forms of influenza, including the deadly bird flu, previous pandemic viruses and most strains of seasonal flu.

The antiviral therapy has been successfully tested in mice. It could be ready for clinical trials in humans within two years, the researchers say, and a universal flu vaccine might be possible within five years.

Writing in the online version of the journal Nature Structural and Molecular Biology, scientists at the Burnham Institute for Medical Research in La Jolla, along with colleagues at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, identified a collection of human monoclonal antibodies that bind to targeted flu viruses, preventing the particles from entering and infecting host cells.

“This was quite a surprise, shocking, really,” said Robert Liddington, director of the Infectious and Inflammatory Disease Center at the Burnham Institute and one of the paper's senior authors. “The antibodies were effective against half of all of the known flu types.” (Source: San Diego Union-Tribune)
Story Date: February 24, 2009
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