Ziresovir reduces signs, symptoms of bronchiolitis in babies with RSV

For infants and young children hospitalized with respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection, ziresovir reduces signs and symptoms of bronchiolitis, according to a study published in the Sept. 26 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.

Shunying Zhao, M.D., Ph.D., from Beijing Children’s Hospital, and colleagues enrolled participants aged 1 to 24 months of age who were hospitalized with RSV infection in a phase 3, multicenter trial. Participants were randomly assigned to receive ziresovir (10 to 40 mg according to body weight) or placebo, administered twice daily for five days in a 2:1 ratio. A total of 244 participants were included in the intention-to-treat population, and the safety population included 302 participants.

The researchers observed a significantly greater reduction from baseline in the Wang bronchiolitis clinical score at day 3 with ziresovir than with placebo (−3.4 versus −2.7 points). At day 5, the reduction in the RSV viral load was greater in the ziresovir group than the placebo group (−2.5 versus −1.9 log₁₀ copies/mL). Prespecified subgroups, including those with a baseline bronchiolitis score of at least 8 and those aged 6 months or younger, showed improvements. The incidence rates of adverse events related to the drug or placebo were 16 and 13 percent, respectively.

“Ziresovir treatment in infants and young children who were hospitalized with RSV infection resulted in a significantly greater resolution of signs and symptoms associated with RSV infection as well as greater decrease in the viral load than placebo,” the authors write.

The study was funded by Shanghai Ark Biopharmaceutical, which is developing ziresovir.

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