Merck Sharp & Dohme LLC has patented compounds reported to be useful for the treatment of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and metapneumovirus (MPV) infections.
Ebviously GmbH, a spin-off from Helmholtz Munich (HMGU), has presented new in vitro data for its Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) vaccine candidate EBV-001. Based on noninfectious virus-like particles (VLPs) derived from EBV, EBV-001 is designed as a highly immunogenic, multiantigen vaccine to prevent EBV-associated diseases, such as infectious mononucleosis.
Tuberculosis still kills a lot of people worldwide (1.6 million deaths per year). Previous findings demonstrated that induced myeloid leukemia cell differentiation protein Mcl-1 inhibitors reduced the growth of Mycobacterium tuberculosis in human macrophages, but when inhibiting multiple proteins from the Mcl-1/Bcl-2 family, the result was more effective and in a more complex human in vitro granuloma environment.
Current antiviral agents for COVID-19 treatment target viral proteins, which are susceptible to mutation during SARS-CoV-2 evolution. A potential strategy to fight emerging drug resistances is the development of compounds targeting host proteins that are indispensable for the viral life cycle.
LW-231, under development by Shanghai Longwood Biopharmaceuticals Co. Ltd., is a novel bifunctional molecule designed to simultaneously modulate hepatitis B virus (HBV) capsid assembly and activate cGAS-STING pathway. Preclinical data were recently presented.
Ethris GmbH has received approval from the U.K. Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) to proceed with a first-in-human trial of its inhaled mRNA program, ETH-47, in healthy participants for the treatment and prophylaxis of respiratory viral infections.
Based on previous studies that have demonstrated the potential of growth hormone-releasing hormone receptor (GHRH-R) antagonists to modulate immune responses to bleomycin lung injury, researchers from the University of Miami and affiliated organizations aimed to evaluate the potential of the GHRH-R antagonist MIA-602 in a mouse model of rVSV-SARS-CoV-2-induced pulmonary dysfunction and heart injury.
Central Drug Research Institute investigators have synthesized novel compounds conjugating the quinoline moiety with a piperazine/pyrrolidine scaffold through a molecular hybridization approach and investigated their antileishmanial activity.
Researchers from Weifang Medical University and affiliated organizations have published details on the discovery of novel hepatitis B virus (HBV) capsid assembly modulators (CAMs).