Date: 2017-04-11
Type of
information: Initiation of development program
phase: preclinical
Announcement: initiation of development program
Company: Abivax (France)
Product: compounds targeting Zika virus
Action
mechanism:
Disease: Zika virus infection
Therapeutic
area: Infectious diseases
Country:
Trial
details:
Latest
news:
- • On March April 11, 2017, Abivax announced the expansion of its portfolio of antiviral drug candidates with a program for the treatment of Zika virus infections. In an initial round of phenotypic screening, several small molecules from its antiviral library containing more than 1.000 compounds showed activity against the Zika virus. These compounds will be analyzed for their ability to inhibit Zika virus induced damage of neuronal stem cells, the mechanism that has been suggested to lead to microcephali and the Guillain-Barre syndrome observed in patients with Zika virus infections.
Abivax’s small molecule approach to develop new antivirals for flaviviruses (e.g. Dengue and Zika) has been supported by new scientific research published in the March 30, 2017 issue of Science. In the article, Enhancement of Zika virus pathogenesis by preexisting antiflavivirus immunity (Bardina et al) the authors observed an antibody-dependent enhancement (ADE) of Zika infection in vitro which was
mediated through the engagement of Dengue or West Nile virus specific IgG with the Fcy receptor. The administration of plasma from individuals previously infected with Dengue or West Nile Virus to Zika Virus susceptible mice resulted in an aggravation of morbidity (including fever, viremia, and viral
loads in spinal cords and testes) and increased mortality. These data led the authors of the study to conclude that flavivirus vaccines might carry the risk of a diseaseenhancing
effect and therefore need to be designed with great caution.
Is
general: Yes
