Peramivir (trade name Rapivab) is an

antiviral drug Antiviral drugs are a class of medication used for treating viral infections. Most antivirals target specific viruses, while a broad-spectrum antiviral is effective against a wide range of viruses. Unlike most antibiotics, antiviral drugs do n ...

developed by

BioCryst Pharmaceuticals BioCryst Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is an American pharmaceutical company headquartered in Durham, North Carolina. The company is a late stage biotech company that focuses on oral drugs for rare and serious diseases. BioCryst's antiviral drug peramiv ...

for the treatment of

influenza Influenza, commonly known as "the flu", is an infectious disease caused by influenza viruses. Symptoms range from mild to severe and often include fever, runny nose, sore throat, muscle pain, headache, coughing, and fatigue. These symptom ...

. Peramivir is a

neuraminidase inhibitor Neuraminidase inhibitors (NAIs) are a class of drugs which block the neuraminidase enzyme. They are a commonly used antiviral drug type against influenza. Viral neuraminidases are essential for influenza reproduction, facilitating viral budding f ...

, acting as a transition-state analogue inhibitor of influenza

neuraminidase Exo-α-sialidase (EC 3.2.1.18, sialidase, neuraminidase; systematic name acetylneuraminyl hydrolase) is a glycoside hydrolase that cleaves the glycosidic linkages of neuraminic acids: : Hydrolysis of α-(2→3)-, α-(2→6)-, α-(2→8)- glyc ...

and thereby preventing new viruses from emerging from infected cells. It is approved for intravenous administration. In October 2009, the U.S.

Food and Drug Administration The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA or US FDA) is a federal agency of the Department of Health and Human Services. The FDA is responsible for protecting and promoting public health through the control and supervision of food ...

(FDA) issued an

emergency use authorization An Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) in the United States is an authorization granted to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) under sections of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act as added to and amended by various Acts of Congress, includ ...

(EUA) for the use of peramivir based on safety data from phase I, phase II, and limited phase III trial data. The emergency use authorization for peramivir expired in June 2010. On 19 December 2014, the FDA approved peramivir to treat influenza infection in adults.

History

An intramuscular (IM) peramivir phase II study for seasonal influenza in 2008–2009 found no effect for the primary endpoint of improvement in the median time to alleviation of symptoms in subjects with confirmed, acute, uncomplicated influenza infection versus placebo. In October 2009, it was reported that the experimental

peramivir had been "life-saving" effective in intravenous treating 8 serious cases of swine flu. On October 23, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued an

Emergency Use Authorization An Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) in the United States is an authorization granted to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) under sections of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act as added to and amended by various Acts of Congress, includ ...

for peramivir, allowing the use of the drug in intravenous form for hospitalized patients only in cases where the other available methods of treatment are ineffective or unavailable; for instance, if oseltamivir resistance develops and a person is unable to take

zanamivir Zanamivir is a medication used to treat and prevent influenza caused by influenza A and influenza B viruses. It is a neuraminidase inhibitor and was developed by the Australian biotech firm Biota Holdings. It was licensed to Glaxo in 1990 and ap ...

via the inhaled route. The U.S. government (department of Health and Human Services) gave BioCryst Pharmaceuticals more than $77 million to finish the Phase III clinical development of peramivir. In 2009 the department of Health and Human Services had already given about $180 million to the program. Biocryst also donated 1200 courses of treatment to the US department of Health and Human Services. The Emergency Use Authorization expired on June 23, 2010. In 2011 a phase III trial found the median durations of influenza symptoms were the same with 1 intravenous injection of peramivir against 5 days of oral oseltamivir for people with seasonal influenza virus infection. In 2012 BioCryst reported that it should halt enrollment on its study for intravenous peramivir in potentially life-threatened people after an interim analysis led trial monitors to conclude that it would be futile to continue and the trial should be terminated. The difference between peramivir and control group (oral oseltamivir) for the primary endpoint, clinical or virologic, was small. In 2013 the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA/HHS) released new funding under the current $234.8 million contract to enable completion of a New Drug Application filing for intravenous (IV) peramivir. According to a research report published in June 2011, a new variant of swine flu had emerged in Asia with a genetic adaptation (a S247N neuraminidase mutation) giving some resistance to oseltamivir and zanamivir, but no significant reduction in sensitivity to peramivir. But a H274Y virus mutation showed resistance to oseltamivir and peramivir, but not to zanamivir, and only in N1 neuraminidases. Ultimately 3.2% (19/599) of A(H1N1)pdm09 viruses collected between 2009 and 2012 had highly reduced peramivir inhibition due to the H275Y NA mutation.

submitted a new drug application (NDA) to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for intravenous peramivir in December 2013. Peramivir (Rapivab) was approved for intravenous administration in December 2014.

References

External links

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