HKU Study Promises New Treatment For Influenza

Hong Kong University researchers say they've achieved a world first in the fight against influenza, by curing infected mice using a doctored version of the flu virus.

Lead researcher Yuen Kwok-yung said this new kind of treatment promises to be more effective than existing drugs like Tamiflu or Relenza, which are only effective when administered within days of the patient falling ill, and for which viruses can quickly develop resistance.

The new treatment effectively turns the flu virus against itself. Researchers cuts away certain key genes from the virus, which prevents it from replicating normally. This 'defective interfering gene' treatment, dubbed DIG3, is therefore resistant to mutation because the virus recognises it as one of its own.

"The cell is being cheated... it's treated as the normal influenza virus. And so we do not expect mutations to develop against the defective interfering genes", Yuen said.

Another researcher, Kelvin To, said their study is the "first time in the world that defective interfering gene has been successfully demonstrated to cure mice from influenza."

"In this study, we have tested H7N7 and H1N1, but we believe that it should theoretically be able to fight against other subtypes of influenza viruses as well," he added.

However, researchers caution that it can take decades of development, clinical trials and adjustments, costing billions of dollars, before the technology can lead to new drugs actually being introduced to the market.

"We have a patent, and we're waiting for investors and companies to develop [the treatment] further in clinical trials et cetera. And we hope that, with the government's emphasis on innovation and technology, there would be money coming in to develop this into a marketable drug one day", Yuen said.