AViDD ASAP

The project continued its focus on the discovery and development of novel antiviral drugs targeting three viral families: flaviviruses, coronaviruses, and enteroviruses. The leading programme targeting MERS/SARS-CoV-2 MPro inhibitors selected a shortlist of compounds that confirms MERS-CoV activity in pre-clinical infection models. These compounds are now being progressed towards pre-clinical toxicology studies. A second programme focused on the discovery of dengue and Zika virus NS2B-NS3 protease inhibitors has now entered the lead-optimization phase with the aim of developing a compound with confirmed in vivo efficacy.

The project continued work focused on the development of novel antiviral drugs targeting three viral families: flaviviruses, coronaviruses, and enteroviruses, including two programmes on coronaviruses progressing in lead optimization. The leading programme targeting MERS/SARS-CoV-2 MPro inhibitors is expected to select a shortlist of compounds that will progress to pre-clinical studies in early 2024. The second programme, focused on SARS-CoV-2 nsp3-Mac1 inhibitors, is undergoing further validation enabled by tool compounds developed by the project. Two additional programmes are in early-stage lead optimization, with the first targeting the enterovirus EV-D68 and EV-A71 3C proteases and the second targeting the dengue and Zika virus flavivirus NS2B/3 protease.