This new drug candidate is effective against measles and other viruses, researchers say
Source: Independent
A new drug candidate could help treat measles, croup and other related viral diseases that cause contagious and life-threatening respiratory infections, Georgia State University researchers say.
The new antiviral drug candidate, known as GHP-88310, is the “most promising inhibitor of this virus family that we have encountered in years of research,” Carolin Lieber, a senior postdoctoral fellow in the school’s Center for Translational Antiviral Research, explained in a statement alongside their related study.
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GHP-88310 is taken orally once a day, and well tolerated in rats, mice, ferrets and dogs at higher concentrations.
It protects against viruses attempting to evade the immune system’s defenses, the researchers note. That’s been a problem with Covid.
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Read more: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/health/drug-measles-croup-georgia-state-university-b2983171.html
The statement is in a press release:
https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1129074
The study published in the journal Science Advances identified clinical candidate GHP-88310 for urgently needed, improved orthoparamyxovirus disease management in rodent and non-rodent animal models of infection. Orthoparamyxoviruses, such as human parainfluenzaviruses, measles virus and emerging henipaviruses, pose a significant threat to human health.
“We developed GHP-88310 to treat orthoparamyxovirus infections,” said Carolin Lieber, a senior postdoctoral fellow in the Center for Translational Antiviral Research in the Institute for Biomedical Sciences at Georgia State and lead author of the study. “GHP-88310 is the most promising inhibitor of this virus family that we have encountered in years of research.”
For this study, the researchers focused initially on human parainfluenzavirus type 3 as the primary clinical indication for drug development. Older adults, immunocompromised individuals and adult hematopoietic stem cell transplant recipients are at great risk of life-threatening parainfluenzavirus pneumonia, with an estimated 3 million cases a year in the U.S. requiring treatment. There are no vaccines or therapeutics available to manage the disease. A secondary indication of GHP-88310 is measles, which has resurged in recent months with major outbreaks in large regions of the U.S., Mexico and Canada.
“Re-emerging orthoparamyxoviruses such as the parainfluenzaviruses and measles virus are a major threat to children and vulnerable groups such as the immunocompromised,” said Richard Plemper, director of the Center for Translational Antiviral Research and senior author of the study. “We specifically designed this drug discovery program to address the medical needs of these patient groups.”
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The study is at https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.aef1594 .
= new reply since forum marked as read
But I don't like it being tested on animals at all.
