Drugmaker Shionogi claims its influenza virus treatment baloxavir marboxil, which is not yet on the market, is faster-acting than any other flu drug available, with just one dose of the medication effectively killing the virus within a single day.

In a Phase 3 clinical trial reported last year, the average amount of time the compound took to wipe out the virus in otherwise healthy adults was just over 24 hours.

In contrast, participants treated with one of the most common flu medications, oseltamivir (sold under the brand name Tamiflu), took 72 hours, and people taking a placebo required 96 hours to beat the virus.

While the overall time to alleviation of symptoms was similar whether participants took baloxavir marboxil or oseltamivir, Shionogi says its experimental drug provides immediate relief faster, which might curb the virus's contagiousness in people who take the treatment.