Antiviral therapeutics company Cocrystal Pharma has announced a $5 million investment from OPKO Health, a longtime investor in the company. The investment will support Cocrystal as it advances its lead norovirus programme towards Phase Ib topline data later this year. Under the terms of the agreement,… Read More
An unexpected observation by a University of Queensland (UQ) researcher could lead to a new treatment for deadly infectious diseases including Covid‑19, pneumonia in infants and children, or viral infections caused by Ebola and hantavirus. UQ’s Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology neuroscientist and biochemist Dr… Read More
Merck (MSD outside of the US and Canada) has acquired Cidara Therapeutics, a biotechnology company developing drug-Fc conjugate (DFC) therapeutics, for approximately $9.2 billion. Cidara’s lead candidate, CD388, consists of a small molecule neuraminidase inhibitor stably conjugated to a proprietary Fc fragment of a human antibody designed… Read More
A promising broad-spectrum coronavirus antiviral pre-clinical candidate, ASAP-0017445, has been discovered. ASAP-0017445 is designed to be a direct-to-generic, globally accessible treatment ready for future coronavirus pandemics. The pre-clinical drug candidate, which exhibited encouraging preliminary safety and efficacy results, was recently nominated by Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative… Read More
This paid-for advertorial from BMG Labtech appeared in DDW Volume 26 – Issue 4, Fall 2025 Viruses are inextricably linked to disease in many organisms and viral assays serve as indispensable tools for drug discovery and development. Here we look… Read More
Several companies shared new trial data at the Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI 2025) in San Francisco, US. Once-yearly lenacapavir for HIV prevention Gilead Sciences presented the first data from its ongoing Phase I study investigating two once-yearly formulations of lenacapavir, an injectable HIV-1 capsid… Read More
Global leaders have approved a plan to reduce the estimated 4.95 million human deaths associated with bacterial antimicrobial resistance (AMR) annually by 10% by 2030. The political declaration was agreed at the 79th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) High-Level Meeting on Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR). Read More
Glasgow, UK-based ILC Therapeutics has successfully completed a fundraise of £2.5 ($3.2) million. The company develops hybrid interferons, a new drug class engineered for improved therapeutic profiles across multiple indications. The money will support the continued pre-clinical development of the company’s two lead assets,… Read More
A new study from Korea University suggests that treatment with direct-acting antivirals (DAAs) improves liver disease-related clinical outcomes in patients with chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection and reduces liver fibrosis-based disease burden. In recent years, DAAs that block replication of HCV have dramatically transformed the… Read More
Researchers have uncovered how Flaviviruses like Dengue and Zika propagate, suggesting the possibility of new treatment strategies. They have identified a transporter protein, called importin-7 (IPO7), as crucial for the nuclear transport of Flaviviridae core proteins. Viruses of the family Flaviviridae, including Japanese encephalitis… Read More
A UK-based study will investigate whether a common anti-viral medication could double up as a treatment for long Covid. The project involves teams from the University Hospitals of Derby and Burton NHS Foundation Trust and the University of Exeter, in collaboration with Gilead Sciences. Read More
Researchers have uncovered a link between antiviral drug molnupiravir and a pattern of mutations in the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Molnupiravir induces mutations in the virus’s genome during replication, with the aim of damaging or killing the virus. It was one of the first antivirals available on the… Read More
The latest episode of the DDW Highlights podcast is now available to listen to below. DDW’s Megan Thomas narrates five key stories of the week to keep DDW subscribers up-to-date on the latest industry updates. Diana Spencer has chosen news stories this week which all discuss pre-clinical research studies… Read More
News round-up for 14-18 August by DDW Digital Content Editor Diana Spencer. My chosen news stories this week all discuss pre-clinical research studies that could have a huge impact on our therapeutic approach to several hard-to-treat diseases, helping to overcome drug-resistance and make treatments more targeted… Read More
Researchers have shown that a group of novel molecules inspired by our own immune system inactivates viruses like Zika and chikungunya, and could help overcome antiviral resistance. “We found an Achilles heel of many viruses: their bubble-like membranes. Exploiting this vulnerability and disrupting the membrane is… Read More
In preclinical studies, a new pan-coronavirus papain-like protease (PLpro) inhibitor has shown a near complete reduction in SARS-CoV-2 viral load in the lungs. Infex Therapeutics has selected the clinical candidate for its in-house COV-X programme based on this in vivoefficacy data in a murine SARS-CoV-2 model. Read More
