Discovering new compounds better than influenza A / H1N1 virus than Tamiflu

Ho Chi Minh City Institute of Computational Science and Technology has just announced the discovery of six new compounds resistant to influenza A / H1N1 virus better than Tamiflu.

This study was published in PLoS Currents : Influenza (open scientific journal dedicated to the latest research on influenza A / H1N1) at the end of August 2009.

(Artwork: Howstuffworks)

Accordingly, Vietnamese scientists have found six compounds that are more predictable than Tamiflu (scientific name Oseltamivir) in the treatment of influenza A / H1N1 through simulation and calculation of the interaction between influenza virus and Chemical compounds are obtained from the database of the National Cancer Research Institute.

Scientists predict that in the future Tamiflu will lose its effect due to changes in the protein structure of the influenza virus. Therefore, finding new compounds capable of producing alternative flu drugs Tamiflu is of great significance in preventing future pandemic influenza outbreaks.

As soon as the study was published, the project has received much attention from experts, advisers, scientists at home and abroad.

Mr. Krishan Maggon, an expert in research and development of pharmaceuticals in the US and Switzerland, said that the activity of Peramivir compound in this calculation study is consistent with the experimental results conducted at the companies. pharmaceutical companies in the United States.

Influenza A / H1N1 was originally launched from Mexico in March 2009, then spread to the US, Europe, Australia, Asia . and now the A / H1N1 flu has been present in all continents in the world. .Especially, on June 11, 2009, the World Health Organization raised the warning level to level 6. This is the highest level meaning that the epidemic is present all over the world (but does not mean that the disease is increase the level of danger).

However, Mr. Krishan Maggon also proposed to check the toxicity of these 6 compounds before processing them into medicine. Many people are concerned that this work needs to be more widely available on a global scale and in Vietnam.

First , the above results are currently only theoretical, need to be tested empirically and, if possible, put into production of therapeutic drugs.

Second , because Vietnam is one of the countries directly affected by influenza A / H1N1, it is necessary to continue to develop important research on public health.

" However, in order to reach the users, there must be a lot of experimental steps. Meanwhile, the Institute's ability to stop studying these 6 compounds " - Prof. Dr.Tuong Nguyen Thanh - Director of ICST said.

The two students Nguyen Tien Hung and Le Thi Ly are the ones who carried out this research directly under the guidance of Prof. Dr. Truong Nguyen Thanh- Director of ICST.