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BioCryst Pharmaceuticals, Inc. entered into phase I clinical trial of Peramivir, the company's lead influenza neuraminidase inhibitor, to determine the pharmacokinetics and safety of single and multiple doses of an intravenous (IV) formulation of the drug in healthy volunteers. This study is being conducted in association with the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The trial is being conducted at the NIH Clinical Center in Bethesda, MD , under the direction of John Beigel, M.D., of the Department of Critical Care Medicine at the NIH.

Peramivir was designed to treat and prevent various types of flu. Laboratory tests proved it to be a potent and selective inhibitor of influenza A and B neuraminidases. Pre-clinical studies on Peramivir has shown encouraging activity against H5N1 avian influenza which made researchers to believe that in the proper formulation, the drug may be effective against H5N1, as well as against other life-threatening influenza strains that infect humans.

Source: [BioCryst Pharma Inc., News Release]