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Flu Drug Approved in Japan Claims to Stop Virus in 24 Hours
www.the-scientist.com ^ | February 26, 2018 | By Kerry Grens

Posted on 02/27/2018 10:04:16 AM PST by Red Badger

One dose of the medication, called Xofluza, cripples influenza by interfering with an enzyme critical for viral replication.

Health authorities in Japan on Friday (February 23) approved a new flu medication, called baloxavir marboxil (Xofluza), that aims to stop the virus within one day, according to The Wall Street Journal.

The drug works by blocking the flu virus’s ability to use the host cell for replication. That’s a different mechanism from oseltamivir (Tamiflu), an anti-influenza medication available in the U.S. that works by blocking the virus’s neuraminidase enzyme, preventing its escape from the host cell.

“The data that we’ve seen looks very promising,” Martin Howell Friede, head of the World Health Organization’s advisory on vaccines, told the Journal earlier in the month. “This could be a breakthrough in the way that we treat influenza.”

Data from the drugmaker, Shionogi, show that while Xofluza works days faster than Tamiflu in stopping the flu virus, symptoms wrap up in about the same timeframe for either medication. Roche, which makes Tamiflu, has acquired the license to sell Xofluza internationally, but it will be another year until it could be available in the U.S., according to the Journal.

According to Nikkei Asian Review, Xofluza is the first drug Japan has approved via its fast-track system and will be available to patients there once the pricing is set.


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Culture/Society; Japan
KEYWORDS: flu; influenza; japan; vaccine
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1 posted on 02/27/2018 10:04:17 AM PST by Red Badger
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To: Red Badger

There’s also a flu shot being approved that supposedly hits more flu strains-


2 posted on 02/27/2018 10:05:50 AM PST by Bob434
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To: Red Badger

[[while Xofluza works days faster than Tamiflu in stopping the flu virus, symptoms wrap up in about the same timeframe]]

BUT, the japanese one makes the flu non contagious while it’s fighting it off- which will be huge in helping to prevent spreading the flu


3 posted on 02/27/2018 10:06:57 AM PST by Bob434
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To: Red Badger

One side effect is that you’re hungry an hour after the shot.


4 posted on 02/27/2018 10:10:39 AM PST by nickedknack
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To: Red Badger
interfering with an enzyme critical for viral replication

Looking beyond influenza -- this sounds kind of like an anti-biotic for viruses. Which would be staggeringly huge. Does this stuff work on viral pneumonia?

5 posted on 02/27/2018 10:15:37 AM PST by ClearCase_guy (The government cannot protect you and isn't even trying. Self-defense is a right.)
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To: Red Badger

I could have used that last week.


6 posted on 02/27/2018 10:16:49 AM PST by rdl6989
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To: nickedknack

You are thinking of Chinese food.

This is a great break through, maybe that CDC Dr. will be able to come out of hiding in a year.


7 posted on 02/27/2018 10:18:48 AM PST by Cold Heart
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To: Red Badger

And so the zombie apocalypse begins....


8 posted on 02/27/2018 10:19:10 AM PST by papertyger (Bulverism: it's not just for liberals anymore.)
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To: Red Badger

This is what can happen when the deep state doesn’t control your society.


9 posted on 02/27/2018 10:20:07 AM PST by Defiant (I may be deplorable, but I'm not getting in that basket.)
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To: Red Badger

How to stop something that can reproduce faster than you can kill it? Eliminate its food supply.


10 posted on 02/27/2018 10:20:48 AM PST by rjsimmon (The Tree of Liberty Thirsts)
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To: Red Badger

Bayer to buy and kill it soon.


11 posted on 02/27/2018 10:21:10 AM PST by bmwcyle (People who do not study history are destine to believe really ignorant statements.)
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To: papertyger

12 posted on 02/27/2018 10:23:17 AM PST by ClearCase_guy (The government cannot protect you and isn't even trying. Self-defense is a right.)
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To: Red Badger

And I guarantee - the price in the US, once it is actually available, will be on a magnitude of 10-20X the price in Japan...


13 posted on 02/27/2018 10:23:53 AM PST by TheBattman (Voting for lesser evils still gets you evil...)
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To: Bob434
BUT, the japanese one makes the flu non contagious while it’s fighting it off- which will be huge in helping to prevent spreading the flu

Which means we'll never see it on the U.S. market. Big Pharma can't afford to market anything that provides 100% cure. Can you ever imagine the world without the flu or cancer? Worldwide financial meltdown...

14 posted on 02/27/2018 10:25:25 AM PST by varon (Let the hanging games begin)
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To: Red Badger

Not to be available in the USA until a pharma company can figure out how to charge a $1,000 per dose and have the government pay for it.


15 posted on 02/27/2018 10:47:12 AM PST by fella ("As it was before Noah so shall it be again,")
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To: varon
Big Pharma can't afford to market anything that provides 100% cure.

Silly wagging tongues.

How do you explain Harvoni - the hepatitic C cure? Gilead pharma invested billions into its development.

But please continue berating successful industries by adding the prefix "Big" as it clearly bolsters your position and makes you seem more virtuous.

16 posted on 02/27/2018 10:50:48 AM PST by corkoman
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To: varon
Big Pharma can't afford to market anything that provides 100% cure.
You hit the nail right on the head.
The last great medical discovery was Dr. Salk's polio vaccine ... and that was about 65-70 years ago.
17 posted on 02/27/2018 10:51:01 AM PST by oh8eleven (RVN '67-'68)
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To: Red Badger

Now if only they fast tracked it like they did the AIDS meds. But those idiots are too busy meddling with vaping, menthol fags, cigars etc.


18 posted on 02/27/2018 10:52:39 AM PST by Bonemaker (invictus maneo)
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To: varon; Bob434
> >> BUT, the japanese one makes the flu non contagious while it’s fighting it off- which will be huge in helping to prevent spreading the flu >> Which means we'll never see it on the U.S. market. Big Pharma can't afford to market anything that provides 100% cure. Can you ever imagine the world without the flu or cancer? Worldwide financial meltdown... > Nor, like Tamiflu, will it be readily available OTC; having to waste time/$$, and possibly infecting others, to see a doc to tell ya, "Yep, you have the flu", like Sherlock F* Holmes. Govt has farked medicine so badly, even the cure for would need palm-greasing, I mean FDA approval, time\lives lost.
19 posted on 02/27/2018 10:55:49 AM PST by i_robot73 (One could not count the number of *solutions*, if only govt followed\enforced the Constitution.)
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To: oh8eleven

The last great medical discovery was Dr. Salk’s polio vaccine ... and that was about 65-70 years ago.

...

Funny how the post right above yours proves otherwise.


20 posted on 02/27/2018 11:06:45 AM PST by Moonman62 (Make America Great Again!)
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