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Meglumine acridonacetate Cycloferon is the meglumine salt of acridone acetic acid, sold in Russia as an oral and injectable inducer of endogenous interferon for influenza and other respiratory viral infections; it is not registered in the European Union or the United States and its clinical evidence is almost entirely domestic.
- Cycloferon, a long standing Russian pharmacy staple
- Sold as an inducer of endogenous interferon
- Both tablet and injectable ampoule forms available
- Interferon induction demonstrated in mouse cells
- A defined meglumine salt of acridone acetic acid
- Widely used across Russia for respiratory viral infection
- Cycloferon is the meglumine salt of 10-carboxymethyl-9-acridanone, sold in Russia for influenza and acute respiratory viral infections as a low-molecular-weight interferon inducer.
- CONTRADICTION: the active moiety FAILS to activate human STING, and RNA-sequencing of treated human PBMCs shows an immunosuppressive transcriptional signature with enhanced mitochondrial-pathway apoptosis, pointing instead to nuclear receptor activity [1].
- Its interferon induction in human leukocytes is real but weak, only 50-150 ng/L IFN-alpha, poor against phytohaemagglutinin and bacterial stimulators [2].
- Two Russian meta-analyses report large effects, with an odds ratio of 9.7 (95% CI 7.0-13.0) for a positive outcome in adults with ARVI and about 3.5-fold higher odds of recovery in ENT disease (PMID 29260751, PMID 31486434).
- Both meta-analyses flag high heterogeneity (I-squared 94.8% in children) and both include the drug's developers among the authors; no randomised placebo-controlled trial of Cycloferon has been published in a Western journal.
Mechanism
The stated mechanism is induction of the body's own type I and type II interferons rather than any direct action on a virus. The parent compound, 10-carboxymethyl-9-acridanone, does induce interferon in mouse cells, but it has been shown not to activate human STING, so the pathway that would produce the same effect in people is not established.
receptor fingerprint
apoptotic pathway in human PBMCsEnhances nuclear apoptosis via mitochondrial signalling; about 1,223 genes differentially expressed, 464 up and 759 down
Human STING (TMEM173)FAILS to activate human STING, contradicting the product's stated interferon-induction mechanism; 10-carboxymethyl-9-acridanone activates mouse but not human STING
Interferon-alpha production by blood leukocytesDose-dependent induction, but weak compared with phytohaemagglutinin and bacterial stimulators
Nuclear receptors PPAR-alpha and ROR-alphaProposed agonism from RNA-sequencing of treated human PBMCs plus docking and molecular dynamics; the compound localises to the nuclear envelope and inside the nucleus
Safetyrisks and cautions, not medical advice
sold as tablets and as an injectable ampoule; the parenteral form requires sterile technique and a clinician, and the whole product is a registered medicine with no international assessment of its safety
Subjective profileweighing the evidence above
Interferon inducers are an entire Russian drug category resting on one assumption, and here the assumption has been tested and looks wrong: the parent acridanone induces interferon in mouse cells but does not activate human STING, so the route that would make it work in people is missing. Everything else follows from that, including a domestic evidence base and no EU or US registration. The injectable ampoule adds sterile technique and a needle to a product that has not earned either.
Where to buy
Suppliers
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RUPharma🌐
Meglumine acridonacetate
Research
- 2001first citedProduction of the Cytokines by Blood Leukocytes, Activated with Cycloferon.
- 2017meta-analysis[Clinical efficacy of the immunomodulatory agent cycloferon (tablets) in viral respiratory infe…
- 2019most recent[Cycloferon efficacy in treatment of upper respiratory tract infections: systematic review and…
- 1.Meglumine acridone acetate, the ionic salt of CMA and N-methylglucamine, induces apoptosis in human PBMCs via the mitochondrial pathway.
- 2.Production of the Cytokines by Blood Leukocytes, Activated with Cycloferon.
- 3.[Cycloferon biological activity characteristics].
- 4.[Clinical efficacy of the immunomodulatory agent cycloferon (tablets) in viral respiratory infections: Results of a systematic review and meta-analysis].
- 5.[Cycloferon efficacy in treatment of upper respiratory tract infections: systematic review and meta-analysis].
5 listed here; entry last updated August 2026
Reviews
My notesprivate to this device
Notes and cautions
- Cycloferon has no FDA or EMA approval and no boxed warning, being registered only in Russia and some CIS states.
- The most consequential finding is mechanistic: in human peripheral blood mononuclear cells the active moiety produced an immunosuppressive transcriptional signature and enhanced nuclear apoptosis through the mitochondrial pathway, the opposite of the immunostimulant effect the product claims [1].
- Its efficacy base is two Russian-language meta-analyses with high heterogeneity and manufacturer author overlap, and Russian labelling contraindicates it in pregnancy, breastfeeding, decompensated cirrhosis and children under 4 years (PMID 29260751, PMID 31486434).