Mosquito-borne viruses such as dengue, Zika, yellow fever and West Nile infect hundreds of millions of people around the world each year. Yet there are currently no antiviral drugs approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to treat them.
Researchers at the Hackensack Meridian Center for Discovery and Innovation (CDI), in collaboration with Gilead Sciences and The Rockefeller University, are working to change that. The team has received a $2.5 million federal award from the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) to develop potential oral treatments that could work against multiple mosquito-borne viruses.
Provided in collaboration with VITAL, a BARDA Accelerator Network Hub, the award will support an 18-month research program focused on identifying and testing promising antiviral drug candidates.
The CDI-led research takes a different approach from many previous efforts that had focused on targeting features unique to individual viruses. Instead, the team is looking for parts of the viruses that are similar across the broader flavivirus family with the goal of developing one broad-spectrum antiviral to combat dengue, Zika, West Nile, yellow fever, and other viruses.
“This strategic collaboration represents a powerful synthesis of academic innovation and industry drug discovery and development expertise,” said David Perlin, Ph.D., chief scientific officer and executive vice president of the CDI, who leads the initiative. “By homing in on this approach, we are aiming to advance broad-spectrum antiviral candidates, with the goal of developing orally administered therapies that can be administered to patients during sudden outbreaks. We are determined to fill a critical gap in infectious disease preparedness for the current pathogens — and others which could represent global pandemic threats in the future.”
Each organization will contribute specialized expertise to the project. Rockefeller University will provide expertise in virology and high-throughput screening, a process that allows researchers to rapidly test large numbers of potential drug compounds. Promising compounds will then move through CDI's drug-development pipeline, where researchers will evaluate how the compounds behave in the body, how well they work against the viruses, and whether they show potential for further development. This will include laboratory testing, studies of how the drugs are absorbed and processed by the body, and testing in preclinical animal models.
Gilead will contribute expertise in medicinal chemistry, virology, drug metabolism, pharmacokinetics, manufacturing, regulatory strategy, and global access. Together, the three organizations have developed an 18-month plan aimed at identifying a lead drug candidate with activity against multiple flaviviruses and characteristics suitable for further development.
The ultimate goal is to advance a candidate to the stage where it could be prepared for an Investigational New Drug (IND) application to the FDA, a key step toward beginning clinical trials in people. The research is intended to help strengthen preparedness for current and emerging viral threats.
The award builds on CDI's work in translational antiviral drug discovery that moves research from the laboratory toward practical medical applications. Under Perlin's direction, CDI leads the Metropolitan Antiviral Drug Accelerator (MAVDA), as well as two NIH-NIAID National Centers of Excellence for Translational Research focused on accelerating antibacterial and antifungal drug development.
Simon Fletcher, vice president of research virology at Gilead, said addressing serious viral diseases requires innovative science and strong collaboration.
“By combining CDI's translational research capabilities with Rockefeller's expertise in high-throughput drug screening and Gilead's antiviral research and development experience, this collaboration has the potential to advance groundbreaking science for some of the world's most serious viral diseases,” Fletcher said. “This builds on Gilead's longstanding commitment to advancing research in neglected and emerging viral threats and strengthening preparedness for future outbreaks.”
