Prescription remedy that leaves one cold - Literature Review & Commentary - Brief Article

Townsend Letter for Doctors and Patients,  June, 2002  by Alan R. Gaby

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This news report begins with the bold claim that "a cure for the common cold was, for the first time, shown safe and effective in phase III studies." The new treatment is pleconaril, an antiviral drug that, at the time the report was written, was being evaluated for possible approval by the FDA. In two controlled trials, a total of more than 2,000 patients were randomly assigned to receive pleconaril or placebo, beginning within 24 hours of the onset of a cold. Compared with placebo, the drug reduced the average recovery time by about 14%. On March 19, an FDA advisory panel advised against the drug's approval, citing concerns about its safety.

Comment: I have long wondered how reporters covering medical news are persuaded to report on such underwhelming treatments as this one. We already have treatments that are apparently safer and presumably less expensive, and can provide better than a 14% reduction in the duration of the common cold. For example, a review of 21 placebo-controlled trials of vitamin C (Scand J Infect Dis 1994;26:1-6) concluded that every one of the trials showed a benefit, and that the average reduction in duration or severity of colds in these studies was 23%. Other research has shown that zinc lozenges can reduce the duration of colds by about 50% in adults. Pleconaril was developed by a drug company listed on the NASDAQ that presumably has a larger publicity budget than do the makers of vitamin C and zinc.

Zoler ML. Cold drug appears effective in phase IH studies. Fam Pract News, March 1, 2002, page 17.

Neergaard L. Panel won't OK new cold pill. Associated Press, March 19, 2002.

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