An Institut Pasteur team has developed an original vaccine platform known as MOPEVAC, that will strengthen the organization’s pandemic preparedness initiatives, with the platform’s first vaccine candidate, which targets Lassa fever, set to enter the clinic.
The ability of influenza virus to rapidly undergo antigenic shift to evade immunity raises the need for effective influenza antivirals with a broad spectrum. In a recent Nature Microbiology article, Cidara Therapeutics Inc. provided preclinical data for their drug-Fc conjugate compound CD-388, which has the potential to be a robust therapeutic option for the universal prevention of both seasonal and pandemic influenza.
The University of Hong Kong has patented RNA polymerase β subunit/RNA polymerase sigma factor RpoD (bacterial) interaction inhibitors reported to be useful for the treatment of gram-positive bacterial infections.
rietis Corp. and St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital Inc. have jointly patented compounds acting as caseinolytic protease P (ClpP) (bacterial) activators and RNA polymerase (bacterial) inhibitors and their conjugates with rifamycin analogues reported to be useful for the treatment of gram-positive bacterial infection.
Decoy Therapeutics Inc. has announced that a series of antiviral drug candidates previously designed by its Imp3act platform to be broadly effective against viruses of the paramyxoviridae family have also shown promising in silico activity against measles and Nipah viruses. The candidates were previously shown to be active in vitro against respiratory syncytial virus and human parainfluenza virus 3.
Writing in Cell Reports, researchers from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) and collaborators have presented a multifaceted analysis and structure-function study of a panel of human monoclonal antibodies (hmAbs) targeting AMA1 elicited by natural Plasmodium falciparum infection in a malaria-endemic region in Mali.
Dengue virus (DENV) is a member of the flavivirus family causing dengue fever, a mosquito-borne disease that can be life-threatening. Despite DENV’s widespread presence in over 80 countries and the significant health burden posed by the infection, there is still a critical need for therapeutics and vaccines, with current treatment options only providing supportive care.
CEPI is partnering with Astrazeneca plc to advance VHH-based multispecific antibodies targeting influenza, while Harbour Biomed Ltd. has entered into a global strategic collaboration with Astrazeneca to discover and develop next-generation multispecific antibodies for immunology, oncology and other diseases.