HSRx drug candidate proves effective against Zika virus

HSRx Biopharmaceutical this week announced that HSRx 431, the company’s broad-spectrum antiviral drug candidate that is administered orally, has shown that it is effective against the Zika virus.

HSRx has stated that it anticipates the start of human trials early next year and that it plans on pursuing accelerated drug approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

"We patented HSRx 431 alone and in combination with Oseltamivir (Tamiflu) and other antivirals, enabling it to become the broad spectrum antiviral drug of choice for the early treatment and prevention of a wide variety of viral infections, including Zika, dengue, chikungunya and influenza, without the need to identify the causative agent,” Thomas Sullivan Jr., HSRx CEO, said. “The CDC advises that millions of people are sickened, hundreds of thousands are hospitalized and tens of thousands of people die from flu every year in the U.S. Combining HSRx 431 and Oseltamivir will produce a globally needed, orally-delivered, broad-spectrum antiviral drug with long shelf life and long patent life."

The effectiveness of HSRx 431 against the Zika virus was confirmed by SRI International while conducting screening studies in their Shenandoah Valley facilities.