Marinomed's iota-carrageenan effective against H1N1

Marinomed Biotechnologie GmbH, a company focused on the development of innovative therapies for respiratory diseases, today announced that in vitro and in-vivo tests have demonstrated that Carrageenan is effective as a potent inhibitor of the influenza A virus infection (H1N1). Marinomed conducted the study in collaboration with researchers from the Institute of Diagnostic Virology (Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut, Riems, Germany), St. Anna Children's Hospital and the University of Veterinary Medicine, both located in Vienna, Austria.

Carrageenan, is a polymer derived from red seaweed which helps to create a protective physical barrier in the nasal cavity and has proven to be an effective antiviral in the treatment of the common cold. The present study assessed the efficacy of Carrageenan against influenza viruses, including the pandemic H1N1 influenza strain. Results showed that the polymer directly binds to influenza viruses, effectively blocking the virus from attaching to cells and spreading further. In animal experiments, Carrageenan demonstrated equivalent efficacy when compared to the drug Tamiflu.

"Influenza viruses still represent a substantial threat to public health on a global scale and with increasing viral resistance to Tamiflu, the need for alternatives has never been greater," commented Dr. Andreas Grassauer, CEO and co-founder of Marinomed. "This study confirms that iota-carrageenan can be used as an alternative to neuraminidase inhibitors and should be further tested for prevention and treatment of influenza A in clinical trials in humans."

More information:
The research article entitled "Iota-Carrageenan is a Potent Inhibitor of Influenza A Virus Infection" by Andreas Leibbrandt, Christiane Meier, Marielle König-Schuster, Regina Weinmüllner, Donata Kalthoff, Bettina Pflugfelder, Philipp Graf, Britta Frank-Gehrke, Martin Beer, Tamas Fazekas, Hermann Unger, Eva Prieschl Grassauer and Andreas Grassauer appears online in the open access journal PLoS ONE: dx.plos.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0014320

Provided by University of Veterinary Medicine -- Vienna