Amarillo supplies interferon for Australian flu study

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."