NIH awards $12 million for antiviral therapeutic development | WPN World People News

The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, recently awarded more than $12 million to three institutions for the development of antiviral therapies to treat diseases caused by viruses with pandemic potential. NIAID may award approximately $61.5 million total over five years if all contract options are exercised. The new product development contracts are part of the Antiviral Program for Pandemics (APP), which aims to accelerate the discovery, development and manufacturing of antiviral medicines.

Scanning electron micrograph of Ebola virus particles (purple) both budding and attached to the surface of infected VERO E6 cells (green).

Antivirals are treatments that fight viral infections by acting directly against the virus. Other types of therapies, not the focus of this program, harness the body’s immune system to fight infection. The new contracts will support the development of promising antiviral candidates from late-stage preclinical studies through investigational new drug application-enabling activities and clinical testing.

Alongside the new product development contracts, NIAID already supports nine Antiviral Drug Discovery (AViDD) Centers for Pathogens of Pandemic Concern. The AViDD Centers conduct research on the early-stage identification and validation of novel viral targets and identification and early-stage characterization of antiviral drug candidates.

Source: U.S. National Institutes of Health