Michał Mazuchowski, Łukasz Puchała

Baloxavir marboxil as a therapeutic option to treat influenza in Poland
2020-09-28

Searching for new drugs for the treatment of influenza is important due to the epidemiological significance of this disease entity, affecting a significant percentage of people around the world. Preventive vaccinations, which significantly improve the overall epidemiological situation in the analysed population, cannot completely solve the problem, which results from numerous pharmacological and social conditions. Among drugs available in Poland now are amantadine, rimantadine, oseltamivir and zanamivir, but their effectiveness is not satisfactory, and from the other hand can be hard to use among patients not prepared to use inhalators.

Baloxavir marboxil is one of the newest influenza A and B medications approved in Japan (2018), the United States of America (2019) and Australia, Canada and Switzerland (2020). It works by inhibiting a specific viral cap-dependent endonuclease and blocking RNA transcription in the infected cell. A single administration of 40 or 80 mg of the drug up to 48 hours after the onset of symptoms results in a reduction in viral load and the duration of fever and other symptoms of the disease, usually without serious side effects, like diarrhoea, nausea and headache, and can be used in children after dose adjustment according to their weight. Clinical trials show that reducing the duration of symptoms is not significantly different from other drugs. But oral administration in one dose and a 48 hour treatment window, longer than other drugs in this sentencing, may be taken as the most important advantages. The disadvantages are the possibility of resistance occurring after just one administration, the high cost, and accessibility problems. Baloxavir marboxil is an effective drug against the influenza virus and is used both in the treatment and prevention of adults and children over 12 years of age. The factors limiting the applicability are the price higher than other therapies and the lack of registration in the European Union, which, however, does not exclude the possibility of use.

Keywords: baloxavir marboxil, influenza, vaccinations, pharmaceutical care.

© Farm Pol, 2020, 76 (8): 438–441