A combination of two substances, one of which is theobromine from chocolate, has been found to be more effective than Tamiflu in combating bird and swine flu. This conclusion was reached by scientists from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. According to them, the new drug can suppress even resistant strains of the virus. The study was published in the journal PNAS.

A team led by Professor Shai Arkin worked on the development. Instead of attacking the virus directly, as traditional drugs do, the scientists proposed a new approach: blocking the M2 ion channel, which the virus needs to reproduce. This allows the virus's resistance to drugs to be circumvented.

Ion channels are protein complexes with pores that maintain the potential difference (electrical voltage) between the outer and inner sides of the cell membrane.

The combination of theobromine and arainosine has shown high efficacy in both laboratory tests and animal studies. The new drug was more potent and longer-lasting than oseltamivir, especially against the most aggressive and difficult-to-treat strains.

According to the researchers, this approach could be universal: similar ion channels are present in many viruses, including coronaviruses. The development has been transferred to the startup ViroBlock, which will conduct clinical trials. Scientists hope that the new drug will usher in a whole new class of antiviral drugs that are more resistant to mutations and capable of acting against a wide range of infections.