Disappointing results announced for promising virus drug

Tuesday, April 11th 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

A drug that developers hoped would cure the common cold and viral meningitis has showed disappointing results in three new studies released today. The developer's stock price fell sharply on the news.

The drug, called pleconaril, failed to significantly shorten bouts of illness when tested on adults with severe colds and on adults and children with viral meningitis. However, it did appear to reduce the severity of people's symptoms.

The drug is being developed by ViroPharma in Exton, Pa., and is intended to block a broad family of viruses, known as the picornoaviruses. This family includes such common viral enemies as the rhinoviruses and enteroviruses.

Early studies suggested the drug could reduce the duration of about of viral meningitis by about two days and a bad cold by about three. However, the latest studies did not produce clear-cut evidence of this.

The results were released in a statement from ViroPharma. The company's stock price fell $45 this morning from Tuesday's closing price of $71.75.

In the latest common cold study, runny nose and other symptoms completely cleared up by 7.7 days among pleconaril users, compared with 9.4 days in those getting dummy pills. The difference was not statistically meaningful.

However, the company noted that objective measures of cold severity, such as the number of facial tissues used, were significantly better in pleconaril users.

Earlier, company officials said they hoped to have a pleconaril pill for cold treatment on the market in 2001. Today, Claude Nash,the company's chief executive, said in a statement that ViroPharma will sponsor more large studies in cold victims this year, and its timeline for seeking approval of the drug is unchanged.

Headaches are the chief symptom of viral meningitis. The company said that in the other two new studies, the drug did not significantly improve the time for headaches to go away in either adults or children.

However, the company said the drug did seem to help adults with the most severe cases. The duration of their headaches declined from 10 days to seven.

The company had hoped to submit the drug to the Food and Drug Administration this spring for approval in treating viral meningitis but said it may have to revise its plans.