Scientists develop 'golden fleece' lozenge to fight off all cold and flu bugs

Published on Saturday 2 January 2010 18:54

SCIENTISTS are creating a lozenge that is designed to fight all cold and flu bugs.

The pill, which would cost 20 pence a day and would be taken once before breakfast, could be sold over the counter in as little as two years.

The lozenge, which tastes like a sweet, would prime the immune system to attack every cold and flu bug, including the normal winter flu virus, swine flu and bird flu.

It has already been tested on people and the first results are due within weeks.

Professor Manfred Beilharz, who has devoted 15 years to the research, said: "This is the golden fleece everyone has been looking for."

The pills contain tiny amounts of interferon alpha, a protective protein made naturally by the body when attacked by a virus.

When the lozenge dissolves in the mouth, the immune system is tricked into thinking there is a bug nearby and gets ready to fight the infection.

Already very low doses of the protein have been shown to save the lives of mice exposed to usually lethal cocktails of the flu virus.

Two hundred adults in Western Australia were then tested, with half taking the lozenge and half a dummy sweet. They reported any flu-like symptoms.

If the results are good, it is predicted the pill could be on sale within two to three years.

Beilharz, chairman of the department of microbiology and immunology at the University of Western Australia, said: "This medicine is quite cheap to manufacture and very low dosage and doesn't seem to have any side-effects of any significance."

The Veldona lozenge would ease symptoms but would not completely ward off flus and colds. "When the infection comes along it still infects but the immune system quashes it in a couple of days," said Beilharz.

"So you will have some symptoms but they will be mild and you will go on as normal."

It is being developed by US firm Amarillo Biosciences.

Interferon alpha was nicknamed the "crown jewel" of virology when it was discovered 50 years ago.

Beilharz said: "The outposts of the immune system say, 'Hey, we've got a virus, let's gear up and get ready for it before the infection spreads too far.'"

The pills could be taken year-round but people are most likely to rely on them over the winter. They are likely to be much cheaper than current anti-flu drugs. Unlike the flu vaccine, which has to be reformulated to fight whichever strains of the bug are circulating, it would be a one-size-fits-all drug.

"The vaccine is only good for a particular variant and there may have to be another one the next year, whereas our little baby is not just good against influenza; it's good against all winter cold variants," said Beilharz.

Interferon alpha has been used in Russia to treat colds but was not adopted elsewhere. Injections of much higher doses of interferon are used to treat diseases including multiple sclerosis.

Scottish microbiologist Professor Hugh Pennington warned about side effects linked to interferon. He said they can be worse than the flu itself.

However, he added: "If you can work out the right dose and the right kind of interferon so people don't feel grotty, and it works, it will be a real breakthrough."