Savira: Capping influenza

Savira Pharmaceuticals GmbH is taking a page out of the HIV playbook by targeting influenza's viral polymerase. The company believes its compounds can provide the efficacy of neuraminidase inhibitors but with less potential for resistance.

Polymerase inhibitors eliminate the ability of a virus to replicate. The strategy is widely used to treat HIV and is the focus of many antiviral development programs, including for HCV, HBV and CMV. But viral polymerase has not traditionally been a druggable target for influenza because its structure was unknown, according to Savira CEO Oliver Szolar...