RTI wins $7.2M contract to evaluate flu treatments

Research Triangle Park, N.C. — Could some prescription drugs be effective in fighting an influenza pandemic as part of a program that also includes vaccines?

RTI International will work with hospitals in Atlanta and Durham, N.C. to evaluate how flu treatments are administered to older patients in an attempt to improve effectiveness.

Under a five-year contract worth some $7.2 million, RTI researchers will study the effectiveness of so-called neuramindase inhibitors in fighting flu. These inhibitors, which are included in drugs such as Tamiflu, also could be prescribed in the event of an influenze pandemic, according to RTI.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control is funding the project.

"Although vaccines are available to protect against influenza illness, the vaccines are not 100 percent effective, and not everyone who should get vaccinated does so," said Frank DeStefano, a senior research epidemiologist at RTI who is the influenza project manager. "There is a great need for effective treatments for individuals, particularly older adults, who become infected with the flu."

Most hospitalizations and deaths among flue victims in the U.S. each year are among people over 50.

RTI also noted that the effectiveness of these inhibitors among older patients “has not been well established.”