In the first weeks of the year, doctors’ surgeries are full of people with the flu. Flu is a viral infection that mainly affects the nose, throat, chest and, occasionally, the lungs. Its characteristics are sudden high temperature, muscular pain, headaches and generalised aches and pains, dry cough, sore throat and rhinitis.
While most of those affected recover in one or two weeks with no need for medical treatment, in children, the elderly and people with other serious medical conditions, the infection can cause serious complications, pneumonia, or even death.
One influenza subtype that has caused particular concern in society over recent years is H1N1 or influenza A. A phase II clinical trial is currently underway worldwide to study the efficacy of an antiviral drug in patients hospitalised for Influenza A. This is a trial of enormous international importance which is undergoing development in specialised centres around the world, one of which is the Donostialdea OHI. A patient in Gipuzkoa was the first person in Spain and the second in the world to participate in the trial.
The prestige and work of the Infectious Diseases team and the state-of-the-art infrastructures at the Donostialdea OHI paved the way to the centre being chosen to participate in the trial, whose principal researcher is Dr Francisco Rodríguez Arrondo.
The Biodonostia HRI Clinical Trial Platform has also contributed to this success by making all means and personnel available for the work. This aspect has been essential given the high complexity of the trial due to the seasonal nature of influenza, where coordination between the different agents involved had to be very well organised.
Landmarks such as this mean that the Donostialdea OHI and its patients can benefit from new, more efficient and safer treatments.
About the clinical trial:
The principal objective of this phase II, randomised, double-blind study is to evaluate the safety, pharmacokinetics and effectiveness of JNJ-63623872 in combination with Oseltamivir in adolescents (from 13 to 17 years) and the elderly (65 to 85 years) when compared to adults (18 to 64 years) infected with Influenza A. The duration of the study is 19 months and it is promoted by the Janssen laboratory.
