Intramuscularly administered neuraminidase inhibitor peramivir is effective against lethal H5N1 influenza virus in mice

The replication efficiency and multi-organ dissemination of some influenza A (H5N1) viruses requires a rapid re-evaluation of the available antiviral strategies. We assessed five regimens of the neuraminidase (NA) inhibitor peramivir in mice inoculated with H5N1 virus. The regimens differed by: (1) frequency of administration on first day (once vs twice); (2) duration of administration (1 day vs 8 days); (3) route of administration (intramuscular [IM] injection alone or followed by oral administration). In all regimens, BALB/c mice were administered 30 mg/kg peramivir IM 1 h after lethal challenge with 5 MLD50 of A/Vietnam/1203/04 (H5N1) influenza virus. When given only on the day of inoculation, a single IM injection produced a 33% survival rate, which increased to 55% with two injections. Eight-day regimens significantly increased survival; two IM injections followed by seven daily IM injections was the most effective regimen (100% survival; inhibition of replication in lungs and brain). When this 8-day regimen began at 24 h after inoculation, 78% of mice survived; 56% survived when treatment began at 48 hours. Anti-HA antibody titer differed with the peramivir regimen and corresponded to the severity of disease. Overall, our results demonstrate that IM administration of peramivir is effective in promoting the survival of mice infected with systemically replicating H5N1 virus.