Treatment and Prevention of Influenza

Segment Description: Leslie Tari, PhD, senior vice president of research at Cidara Therapeutics, discusses the treatment and prevention of influenza.

Interview transcript (modified slightly for readability):

Dr. Tari: "There are 2 problems with influenza. There are seasonal vaccines, which have limited effectiveness. Over the past decade the effectiveness of the influenza vaccine from the CDC website has varied from between 10 to about 60% and there are populations—elderly, very young, and immocompromised populations—where the vaccine efficacy is even lower, so for protection and prevention of flu there's still a lot of work to be done to address that unmet need. On the treatment side, all of the antivirals that are currently approved for flu have a limited window where they could be administered and still remain effective, so right now that's 48 hours from onset of symptoms. There are still significant challenges on the prevention and the treatment space for flu."

The study, “Cloudbreak: A Novel Approach for the Treatment and Prevention of Influenza Virus,” was presented in an oral session on Monday, April 15, 2019, at ECCMID 2019 in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.