Japan on Friday approved a drug that claims to kill the flu in 24 hours, a move that could be a major breakthrough in combating the way influenza is treated.
The Japanese drug maker Shionogi can begin selling its pill, called Xofluza, locally but it wouldn’t hit U.S. shelves until at least 2019, the Wall Street Journal reports.
That’s unfortunate since the U.S. is in the grips of the worst flu season in a decade, with a total of 84 child deaths.
The price of the pill? Good question. The national insurer has yet to set one meaning that the drug may not be available in Japan until at least May, according to the Wall Street Journal.
SOURCE: USA Today, Jessica Durando