Flu Treatment News
BioCryst reports 4Q loss on revenue dip
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) — BioCryst Pharmaceuticals Inc. on Thursday reported a fourth-quarter loss on a decline in revenue from emergency sales of its flu treatment.
The company lost $9.1 million, or 20 cents per share, compared with net income of $15.2 million, or 35 cents per share, during the same period a year prior. Revenue fell to $17.8 million from $54.9 million.
Analysts polled by FactSet expected a loss of 21 cents per share on revenue of $16.9 million.
In 2009, the company had an exceptional boost to its revenue from emergency use sales of the flu treatment peramivir, mainly to the federal government. The drug is still under development, but the U.S. government had approved it as an emergency treatment for swine flu. The intravenous flu drug is intended for patients who are too sick to take an oral drug.
For the full year, the company lost $32.7 million, or 73 cents per share, compared with a loss of $13.5 million, or 35 cents per share, in 2009. Revenue fell to $63.5 million from $74.6 million.
Shares of BioCryst fell 13 cents, or 3.2 percent, to $3.92 in afternoon trading. The stock earlier reached a 52-week low of $3.87 and it has traded as high as $8.37 during that same period.
ACIP updates antiviral guidelines for flu treatment
The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has issued revised guidelines for vaccinating patients against influenza. The ACIP report was published in Mortality and Morbidity Report Weekly.
The updated guidance suggests several significant changes to the 2008 committee recommendations, including revisions to the tables of contraindications and precautions to vaccination; restructuring reports to emphasize vaccine risk-benefit screening immediately after discussion of contraindications and vaccines; and establishing stricter criteria for selecting appropriate storage units for vaccines.
ACIP remained bullish on the benefits of using vaccine for the prevention and control of influenza. “Antiviral medications are effective for the prevention of influenza, and when used for treatment, can reduce the duration and severity of illness,” wrote Anthony E. Fiore, MD, and his colleagues.
However, the authors concluded, the emergence of strains resistant to 1 or more of the 4 licensed antiviral agents (oseltamivir, zanamivir, amantadine, and rimantadine) has made prevention and treatment far more complicated in the last 5 years.
Therefore, the authors stated, it is important to consider information about surveillance data and resistance patterns when making decisions on which vaccine to use.
In addition, ACIP recommended that antiviral treatment begin as soon as possible in patients with suspected or confirmed severe, complicated, or progressive influenza, or in outpatients with risk factors connected with age or underlying medical conditions.
The guidance was intended to help vaccination providers assess benefits and risks, recommend administration and storage practices, and understand the most effective strategies for ensuring vaccination coverage, according to CDC.
GlaxoSmithKline begins phase III trial of influenza treatment
GlaxoSmithKline is beginning a phase III clinical study of a potentially promising new treatment for influenza.
The pharmaceutical company has provided the first enrolled patient with a dose of intravenous zanamivir as part of the pivotal trial, which will aim to compare the efficacy of the therapy with oral oseltamivir.
Zanamivir is licensed from the manufacturer Biota and has been marketed globally in its inhaled form since 1999, but it has yet to be approved in any countries as an intravenous treatment.
This new study will involve 462 hospitalised influenza patients by the time enrolment is concluded, with subjects set to be drawn from more than 20 nations in both the northern and southern hemispheres.
GlaxoSmithKline expects the trial to last for three years and is hoping that the new treatment will deliver a faster clinical response among users than the control drug.
Last week, the company announced that it has also begun a new phase III trial of GSK1605786, a therapy for Crohn’s disease it is developing with ChemoCentryx.