A new antiviral drug that acts superior to Tamiflu protected mice against a range of influenza strains in a recent study.

Before testing their molecules in animals, the researchers optimized their favorite small molecule candidate by systematically generating thousands of versions and testing how tightly they bound HA stems from seven different influenza strains. As they predicted, the resulting molecule, called HB36.6, protected cells against influenza virus infection in vitro (i.e., in test tubes).

The researchers next tested HB36.6 in “challenge experiments” in mice. They gave mice a single intranasal dose of the drug and 2 hours, 24 hours, or 48 hours later injected them with a normally lethal dose of influenza virus. This one-time HB36.6 treatment, when given up to 48 hours before the challenge, conveyed complete protection: All of the treated mice survived and had little weight loss, whereas all untreated control mice died after losing a third of their body weight or more. Intranasal HB36.6 was also able to protect mice after they had been exposed to flu virus, when administered either as a single dose within a day after exposure, or when it was given daily for four days starting 24 hours after exposure.

This protection does not depend on an intact host immune response. When the researchers repeated the challenge experiments in two different immune-deficient mouse strains, they found that HB36.6 can protect these mice as well.

Comparing HB36.6 with Oseltamivir, the researchers found that a single dose of HB36.6 provided better protection than 10 doses (twice daily for 5 days) of Oseltamivir. Furthermore, when they gave a low dose of HB36.6 post-infection (which by itself was not able to afford full protection) together with twice-daily doses of Oseltamivir, all the mice survived, indicating a synergistic effect when the two antiviral drugs are combined.

Their results, the researchers conclude, “show that computationally designed proteins have potent anti-viral efficacy in vivo and suggests promise for development of a new class of HA stem-targeted antivirals for both therapeutic and prophylactic protection against seasonal and emerging strains of influenza”.

Photo Credit: Koday et al.

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