New superdrug to stop all flu types

Researchers have developed a drug cocktail that could provide a cure-all to the flu in all of its forms, WebMD reported on Monday.

The treatment is based on new monoclonal antibodies that attack flu viruses in a shared Achilles heel. Of the many different subtypes of flu, there are only two basic patterns for this vulnerable, essential part of the flu virus.

And despite heroic efforts, researchers could not breed a flu strain resistant
to the treatment — suggesting that there’s only a very small chance that mutated viruses could render the treatment of the flu virus obsolete.

The breakthrough finding is a joint effort from labs at the Burnham Institute; Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston; and the CDC in Atlanta. “I certainly believe that a therapy for all kinds of influenza may be within our grasp,” study researcher Robert Liddington said.

Like many breakthroughs, the finding was partly accidental. The researchers were, at first, trying only to create a treatment to stop the H5N1 bird flu virus, the most likely candidate for igniting the next worldwide flu pandemic.

While monoclonal antibodies against flu are new, a wide range of drugs are based on this technology. That means the new, fully human anti-flu antibodies could become new human drugs relatively quickly.

While full testing and approval of the new treatment will take time, it’s possible that the process would move much faster if a flu pandemic appeared imminent. rugs mobilising the new technology could debut by the 2011 flu season.