Prospects for Specific Influenza Treatment

Influenza is an acute respiratory disease caused by the flu virus. The influenza virus is a RNA-containing virus that causes mass epidemics and pandemics. There are currently many ways in which influenza can be specifically prevented and treated. Specific influenza prevention includes vaccination. However, the antigenic variability of the virus reduces the effectiveness of the vaccine. Specific therapy for influenza infection includes several classes of drugs, among them neuraminidase (NA) inhibitors - oseltamivir, zanamivir, and M2-protein inhibitors - amantadine, rimantadine. The widespread use of these drugs and the high variability of the influenza virus lead to a gradual loss of their pharmacological effect. Among the new developments of antiviral drugs, we should mention histidyl-1-adamantyl ethylamine, which is a modification of the molecule of Rimantadine and at the stage of preclinical studies showed sufficient antiviral activity. A representative of another class of drugs - arbidol, hemagglutinin (HA) inhibitor of the influenza virus. According to research data, this drug has high efficacy and safety profiles, but the World Health Organization's recommendation is to continue clinical trials. Clinical trials of new classes of drugs - baloxavir marboxyl and favipiravir - are currently underway. Baloxavir marboxyl is an inhibitor of the cap-dependent endonuclease. Favipiravir is an inhibitor of RNA-dependent RNA polymerase. Preclinical studies have shown high efficacy of these drugs. The rapid evolution of the influenza virus leads to a gradual decrease in the effectiveness of modern antiviral drugs. In this regard, the improvement and development of antiviral drugs is an urgent task.