In Vitro Study of Adamas Pharmaceuticals' Triple Combination Antiviral Drug Therapy Shows Activity Against Drug-Resistant Influenza Viruses

SAN FRANCISCO, Sept. 13 /PRNewswire/ -- Adamas Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a privately held company, announced today that a multi-center in vitro study of its proprietary triple combination antiviral drug (TCAD) therapy showed substantially greater potency against seasonal and novel H1N1 influenza viruses than currently recommended single or double therapy and that the triple combination is active against drug-resistant flu strains. The study was presented during an oral presentation at the 49th Annual Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy (ICAAC).

"These data suggest that the triple combination of amantadine, ribavirin, and oseltamivir was highly synergistic in its ability to inhibit influenza virus replication, including the current circulating novel H1N1 virus. The triple combination approach, because it strikes multiple targets within the viruses, might also help to prevent the development of new resistance in susceptible flu strains," said study investigator Mark Prichard, Ph.D., Professor in the Department of Pediatrics, University of Alabama at Birmingham. "This triple combination approach may represent a highly active antiviral therapy for serious influenza infections, with the potential to address the current limitations of antiviral potency and drug resistance."

According to the study investigators, virtually all clinical isolates of seasonal influenza in 2009 have been found to be resistant to either the adamantanes or oseltamivir. They caution that the development of resistance to currently recommended therapies may undermine their utility. While currently limited in scope, the first cases of multi-drug resistant novel influenza A/H1N1 flu are also now being reported and will need to be addressed.(1)

The CDC and WHO recommend the use of antiviral drugs for treating serious cases of influenza infection(2). Antiviral drugs that are both potent and effective against drug-resistant strains also may be important for limiting transmission of the swine flu virus during the pandemic.(3)

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(2) http://www.who.int/csr/disease/swineflu/notes/h1n1_use_antivirals_20090820/en/index.html

Babak Pourbohloul, Armando Ahued, Bahman Davoudi, Rafael Meza, Lauren A. Meyers, Danuta M. Skowronski, Ignacio Villasenor, Fernando Galvan, Patricia Cravioto, David J. D. Earn, Jonathan Dushoff, David Fisman, W. John Edmunds, Nathaniel Hupert, Samuel V. Scarpino, Jesus Trujillo, Miguel Lutzow, Jorge Morales, Ada Contreras, Carolina Chavez, David M. Patrick, Robert C. Brunham

Adamas Pharmaceuticals, Inc.