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news.Preclinical studies of FermaVir Pharmaceuticals' investigational shingles treatment, FV-100, have shown that the drug inhibits viral infections exceptionally quickly and that when dosed orally, the active compound shows good dose dependent pharmacokinetics.
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In the preclinical studies, the active compound was able to inhibit the varicella zoster virus (the root cause of shingles) much more quickly than acyclovir, which is marketed by GlaxoSmithKline as Zovirax, and is one of the frequently used and currently approved therapies for shingles.
Specifically, FermaVir’s compound was able to achieve an EC50 (a measure of the amount of a compound which inhibits 50% of the virus in vitro) more than 20 hours sooner than acyclovir when infected cells were exposed to either drug for different periods of time.
The new oral bioavailability data also continues to suggest that FV-100 might be able to achieve once a day dosing, a significant benefit over current therapy.
According to the company, research data suggests that the compound may be 10,000 times more potent than currently approved drug treatments for shingles.
“We are extremely pleased with the latest sets of data on FV-100. Not only does this data confirm our previous oral bioavailability data in other models but it also suggests that the properties of our compound will enhance it getting to the site of the viral infection and inhibiting the infection much faster than one of the approved drugs,” said Dr Geoffrey Henson, CEO of FermaVir.