Emory Institute of Drug Discovery and Zirus collaborate to develop new anti-viral drugs

The Emory Institute of Drug Discovery and Zirus, Inc., a biotechnology company based in Buford, Georgia, have entered into a collaboration and research agreement to develop novel compounds to treat infectious disease. Zirus uses a proprietary method for identifying genes and gene products in host cells that, when blocked, can prevent viruses from multiplying. Over the past several years, either alone or in collaboration with partners, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Zirus has identified, licensed and filed patents on more than 1000 targets. Zirus has also identified a number of drugs already approved for indications other than infectious disease that appear to block Zirus targets. These drugs have the potential to reach the market quickly to address significant unmet medical needs for infectious diseases.

“The collaboration with Emory is designed as a true partnership between Zirus and a world class group of chemists with a track record of designing successful drugs.”

The Emory Institute for Drug Discovery was established in August 2009, with the dual mission of carrying out early-stage discovery and preclinical drug research aimed at developing small-molecule therapeutics and training new generations of researchers in a multidisciplinary drug discovery environment. The Emory team working with Zirus has successfully brought a number of important drugs to market and is generally regarded as one of the top chemistry groups in the world.

William O'Brien, M.D., CMO of Zirus stated, "Over the years viruses have shown that they can outsmart vaccines and anti-viral drugs such as protease inhibitors by mutating and developing resistance. As a result, there is no effective vaccine for HIV, each year we need a new vaccine for the seasonal flu, the effectiveness of vaccines for variations of swine flu and avian flu remain questionable, and the cocktail of drugs taken by AIDS patients is constantly changing. Each of these viruses, however, share a common element; they must invade our cells (human host cells) and hijack our genetic machinery in order to reproduce. The Zirus technology allows us to identify which genes and pathways are employed by the viruses inside our cells, and by blocking them we can stop the virus from replicating. In our labs, or in collaboration with the CDC, we have successfully blocked, among other viruses, Ebola, Marburg, HIV, influenza, RSV, rhinovirus, herpes virus, dengue fever virus, cowpox virus, measles virus, BVDV, and others." David Perryman, CEO of Zirus, added, "The collaboration with Emory is designed as a true partnership between Zirus and a world class group of chemists with a track record of designing successful drugs."

The Emory team is being led by Dennis Liotta, the Samuel Candler Dobbs Professor of Chemistry and head of the Emory Institute of Drug Discovery. Dr. Liotta has won numerous awards for his work, has served as a consultant to a number of major pharmaceutical companies, including Merck, GlaxoSmithKline, Boehringer Ingelheim, and Johnson & Johnson, and is the inventor of record for several clinically important anti-viral drugs, including FTC (Emtriva, Emtricitabine), Truvada (Emtriva/Viread fixed dose combination), Reverset (DPC 817, D-D4FC), Racivir and Elvucitabine.

Dr. Liotta commented, "While I have successfully worked for many years developing anti-viral drugs, the Zirus approach to blocking host cell genes and gene products represents a new paradigm in dealing with infectious disease that may address some of the shortcomings of conventional programs. Infectious disease needs a multi-prong attack, and the Zirus host targets appear to represent the 'third leg of the stool' along with vaccines and traditional anti-virals that attack the virus. I'm very excited about the partnership and working with Zirus."

Under the agreement, Zirus would be responsible for delivering targets for certain agreed upon diseases, screening potential drugs in its viral assays, and conducting certain animal trials, while Emory would construct chemical libraries and optimize drug candidates. Both sides would share in the financial return on the results.