Three institutions have received a share of $12 million for the development of antiviral therapies to treat diseases caused by viruses with pandemic potential.
The money was awarded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health. NIAID may award approximately $61.5 million total over five years if all contract options are exercised.
The new product development contracts are part of the Antiviral Program for Pandemics (APP), which aims to accelerate the discovery, development and manufacturing of antiviral medicines.
The new contracts will support the development of promising antiviral candidates from late-stage preclinical studies through investigational new drug application-enabling activities and clinical testing.
Alongside the new product development contracts, NIAID already supports nine Antiviral Drug Discovery (AViDD) Centers for Pathogens of Pandemic Concern. The AViDD Centers conduct research on the early-stage identification and validation of novel viral targets and identification and early-stage characterisation of antiviral drug candidates.
The new product development contracts include:
- Microbiotix, Worcester, Massachusetts for the development of broad-spectrum filovirus inhibitors that target viral glycoprotein
- Oregon Health and Science University, Portland for the development of a novel 2-pyrimidone (SRI-42718) as a potent inhibitor of chikungunya virus infection and disease
- Baruch S Blumberg Institute, Doylestown, Pennsylvania for the development of an orally available antiviral drug for yellow fever.
