Antiviral agents

No significant efficacy difference between courses of remdesivir in patients with severe COVID-19

There is no significant difference in efficacy between five-day and ten-day courses of the antiviral remdesivir for patients with severe COVID-19 not requiring ventilation, research published in The New England Journal of  Medicine has shown.…

First COVID-19 treatment to be made available for use in UK outside a clinical trial

Remdesivir will become the first COVID-19 treatment in the UK to be made available for use outside a clinical trial.…

Remdesivir could be granted conditional marketing authorisation ‘in the coming days’, says EMA

The investigational antiviral medicine, remdesivir, may be granted a conditional marketing authorisation as a treatment for COVID-19 “in the coming days”, the head of the European Medicines Agency has said.…

The hunt for an effective treatment for COVID-19

As researchers around the globe drop everything to find a treatment for COVID-19, we look at the likely frontrunners for managing this deadly disease.…

Pharmacists able to dispense antivirals at earliest point in flu season for five years

The government has given pharmacists permission to dispense antiviral medicines at the expense of the NHS, in response to an increase in flu cases.…

Hepatitis C: tackling the silent killer

About 200,000 people are living with hepatitis C in the UK, but it is estimated that around half of these remain undiagnosed. Identifying those at risk, offering tests and connecting those infected with treatment are crucial to tackling the disease.…

HIV patients should have flu jab despite warnings, pharmacy group urges

HIV pharmacy specialists have warned that some HIV patients could be being mistakenly told that they should not take antiretrovirals at the same time as receiving the seasonal flu vaccination.…

Naturally occurring peptides show antiviral potential against common cold

Cathelicidins could be a new therapeutic strategy for the management of human rhinovirus infection, researchers suggest.…

An update on the management of chronic hepatitis B and C infection

Chronic hepatitis B and C infection are leading causes of liver-related morbidity and mortality worldwide. Current therapies for chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection consisting of nucleos(t)ide analogues (NA) rarely lead to functional cure. With a better understanding of the HBV lifecycle, nove…

World Health Organization looks to eliminate threat of hepatitis B and C

The World Health Organization’s Marc Bulterys on the agency’s efforts to eliminate viral hepatitis by scaling up screening and improving access to new and effective drugs…