Antiviral Drug News and Research

RSS

Why covid patients who could most benefit from paxlovid still aren’t getting it

Evangelical minister Eddie Hyatt believes in the healing power of prayer but "also the medical approach." So on a February evening a week before scheduled prostate surgery, he had his sore throat checked out at an emergency room near his home in Grapevine, Texas.

11 Mar 2024

Structural study identifies target for broad-spectrum antivirals against herpesviruses

Human herpesviruses comprise the alpha, beta, and gamma subfamilies and are a widely prevalent group of DNA-enveloped viruses, capable of establishing lifelong latent infections in humans and causing various diseases.

26 Feb 2024

Increased paxlovid use could lead to significant hospitalization reductions and cost savings

Increased use of Paxlovid, the antiviral drug used to treat COVID-19, could prevent hundreds of thousands of hospitalizations and save tens of billions of dollars a year, according to a new epidemiological model published by researchers at The University of Texas at Austin.

23 Feb 2024

Promising influenza drug candidate shows activity against resistant variants

Influenza A viruses with induced resistance to a new candidate antiviral drug were found to be impaired in cell culture and weakened in animals, according to a study by researchers in the Center for Translational Antiviral Research at Georgia State University.

6 Feb 2024

Antiviral hope emerges as viruses linked to multiple myeloma

A few years ago, a patient was cured of multiple myeloma after being treated for hepatitis C, astounding researchers from the group led by Joaquín Martínez, from the H12O-CNIO Haematological Tumours Clinical Research Unit, a collaboration between the Hospital 12 de Octubre (H12O) and the National Cancer Research Centre (CNIO).

19 Jan 2024

‘Emergency’ or not, covid is still killing people. Here’s what doctors advise to stay safe.

With around 20,000 people dying of covid in the United States since the start of October, and tens of thousands more abroad, the covid pandemic clearly isn't over.

18 Jan 2024

Paxlovid treatment in 20% of COVID-19 patients could avert 850,000 hospitalizations, save up to $170 billion

A study in the Emerging Infectious Diseases journal shows treating 20% of COVID-19 patients with Paxlovid could save up to 0.85 million lives and reduce the economic burden by US $170.17 billion in the US.

14 Jan 2024

Research uncovers stealthy strategy of SARS-CoV-2 infection

Researchers have discovered a novel mechanism whereby the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which causes COVID-19, can vary its mode of infection in human cells. Published in the journal eLife, a team from the University of Minnesota and the Midwest Antiviral Drug Discovery (AViDD) Center found the virus can alternate between being highly infectious and avoiding detection by the immune system.

5 Dec 2023

Research shows how HIV drug could stop many coronavirus diseases

Coronaviruses are a global public health risk, with three highly infectious species, including SARS-CoV-2, emerging in the last 20 years.

5 Dec 2023

Willow bark may be the source of a new antiviral drug

Scientists have found that specially processed samples of willow bark extract have an antiviral effect which isn’t seen in already known medical compounds from willow bark, such as salicylic acid, the precursor to modern aspirin.

13 Nov 2023

WHO experts update guidance on COVID-19 treatments

A panel of international experts representing the World Health Organization's Guideline Development Group has updated its guidance on treatments for patients with covid-19.

9 Nov 2023

Lab-grown skin organoids help scientists understand monkeypox infection

Skin organoids offer a powerful platform for drug discovery in the ongoing fight against the virus formerly known as monkeypox.

16 Oct 2023

Paxlovid treatment provides protection against COVID-19 for both mother and child

A new mouse model of infection with the COVID-19-causing SARS-CoV-2 virus during pregnancy tracks closely the disease course doctors have observed in SARS-CoV-2-infected pregnant patients, and suggests that treatment with the antiviral Paxlovid provides protection for both mother and child.

16 Oct 2023

New insights into coronavirus E channel could lead to antiviral drugs

The genome of the SARS-CoV-2 virus encodes 29 proteins, one of which is an ion channel called E. This channel, which transports protons and calcium ions, induces infected cells to launch an inflammatory response that damages tissues and contributes to the symptoms of Covid-19.

13 Oct 2023

Research uncovers a link between antiviral drug for COVID-19 and SARS-CoV-2 mutations

Researchers at the Francis Crick Institute, the University of Cambridge, Imperial College London, the University of Liverpool, the University of Cape Town and UKHSA have uncovered a link between an antiviral drug for COVID-19 infections called molnupiravir and a pattern of mutations in the SARS-CoV-2 virus.

25 Sep 2023

COVID drug molnupiravir appears to be driving SARS-CoV-2 to mutate and evolve

Molnupiravir, an antiviral drug used to treat patients with COVID-19, appears to be driving SARS-CoV-2 to mutate and evolve, with some of these new viruses being transmitted onwards, a new study has shown. It is not clear, however, whether these mutated viruses pose an increased risk to patients or are able to evade the vaccine.

25 Sep 2023

Research shows how mosquito-transmitted viruses hijack host cells to promote infection

New Cleveland Clinic research shows how mosquito-transmitted viruses – like Zika, West Nile, Yellow Fever and dengue viruses – hijack host cells to promote their own replication and infection.

16 Aug 2023

Two anti-inflammatory drugs reduce deaths in severe COVID-19 patients

Two anti-inflammatory drugs, abatacept and infliximab, reduced deaths among patients hospitalized with severe COVID-19, according to a national study led by Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. William G. Powderly, MD, (right) who led the large clinical trial, discusses patient conditions with Maanasi Samant, MD, in the intensive care unit at Barnes-Jewish Hospital, one of the major trial sites, during the COVID-19 pandemic.

10 Jul 2023

Single mutation of the hepatitis E virus stands in the way of sofosbuvir drug's effectiveness

A single mutation stands in the way of a drug's effectiveness. Understanding it helps find new therapeutic approaches.

21 Jun 2023

Antiretroviral treatment efficiently suppresses penile HIV replication

Of the 38 million people worldwide living with HIV, approximately 700,000 are newly infected men, primarily via sexual transmission.

12 Jun 2023