Texas, USA-based Amarillo Biosciences says it has shipped clinical supplies to Perth, Australia, to be used in a human clinical study conducted by associate investigator Manfred Beilharz, chairman of the Department of Microbiology and Immunology, School of Biomedical, Biomolecular and Chemical Sciences, University of Western Australia.
Healthy adult volunteers will be screened and enrolled this month and given oral interferon or placebo starting May 4. This date was selected to allow up to 200 volunteers to start treatment prior to the June-August peak cold and flu season in Perth. The treatment will continue daily for four months. The study will determine if oral interferon supplied by Amarillo will help reduce the incidence, duration and severity of naturally-occurring colds and flu.
David Smith, principal investigator, said: "interferon had been used as a treatment for respiratory viruses for many years, but the Perth trial will use a lower dose that will be given orally, rather than as a nasal spray or injection. This is a pioneering trial and the idea is that it gives a broad protection against a range of respiratory infections because it's aimed at boosting immunity rather than being directed at a specific virus. If we get the promising results expected, we'll be looking at this as a springboard for a larger trial that could change the way we look at preventing infections, and add a new weapon in our fight against a range of respiratory illnesses."
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