Discovery and development of safe-in-man broad-spectrum antiviral agents

Petter I. Andersen; Aleksandr Ianevski; Hilde Lysvand; Astra Vitkauskiene; Valentyn Oksenych; Magnar Bjørås; Kaidi Telling; Irja Lutsar; Uga Dumpis; Yasuhiko Irie; Tanel Tenson; Anu Kantele; Denis E. Kainov

International Journal of Infectious Diseases (Apr 2020)

Discovery and development of safe-in-man broad-spectrum antiviral agents

Petter I. Andersen,
Aleksandr Ianevski,
Hilde Lysvand,
Astra Vitkauskiene,
Valentyn Oksenych,
Magnar Bjørås,
Kaidi Telling,
Irja Lutsar,
Uga Dumpis,
Yasuhiko Irie,
Tanel Tenson,
Anu Kantele,
Denis E. Kainov

Affiliations

Petter I. Andersen: Department of Clinical and Molecular Medicine, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), 7028 Trondheim, Norway
Aleksandr Ianevski: Department of Clinical and Molecular Medicine, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), 7028 Trondheim, Norway
Hilde Lysvand: Department of Clinical and Molecular Medicine, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), 7028 Trondheim, Norway
Astra Vitkauskiene: Department of Laboratory Medicine, Lithuanian University of Health Science, 44307 Kaunas, Lithuania
Valentyn Oksenych: Department of Clinical and Molecular Medicine, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), 7028 Trondheim, Norway
Magnar Bjørås: Department of Clinical and Molecular Medicine, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), 7028 Trondheim, Norway
Kaidi Telling: Institute of Technology, University of Tartu, 50090 Tartu, Estonia
Irja Lutsar: Institute of Medical Microbiology, University of Tartu, Tartu 50411, Estonia
Uga Dumpis: Latvian Biomedical Research and Study Centre, Riga 1067, Latvia
Yasuhiko Irie: Institute of Technology, University of Tartu, 50090 Tartu, Estonia
Tanel Tenson: Institute of Technology, University of Tartu, 50090 Tartu, Estonia
Anu Kantele: Helsinki University Hospital (HUS) and University of Helsinki, Helsinki 00290, Finland
Denis E. Kainov: Department of Clinical and Molecular Medicine, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), 7028 Trondheim, Norway; Institute of Technology, University of Tartu, 50090 Tartu, Estonia; Institute for Molecular Medicine Finland, FIMM, University of Helsinki, 00014 Helsinki, Finland; Corresponding author at: Department of Clinical and Molecular Medicine, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), 7028 Trondheim, Norway.

Journal volume & issue: Vol. 93
pp. 268 – 276

Abstract

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Viral diseases are one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality in the world. Virus-specific vaccines and antiviral drugs are the most powerful tools to combat viral diseases. However, broad-spectrum antiviral agents (BSAAs, i.e. compounds targeting viruses belonging to two or more viral families) could provide additional protection of the general population from emerging and re-emerging viral diseases, reinforcing the arsenal of available antiviral options. Here, we review discovery and development of BSAAs and summarize the information on 120 safe-in-man agents in a freely accessible database (https://drugvirus.info/). Future and ongoing pre-clinical and clinical studies will increase the number of BSAAs, expand the spectrum of their indications, and identify drug combinations for treatment of emerging and re-emerging viral infections as well as co-infections. Keywords: Virus, Antiviral drug, Drug discovery and development, Broad-spectrum antiviral agents, BSAAs

Published in International Journal of Infectious Diseases

ISSN: 1201-9712 (Print); 1878-3511 (Online)
Publisher: Elsevier
Country of publisher: Netherlands
LCC subjects: Medicine: Internal medicine: Infectious and parasitic diseases
Website: http://www.journals.elsevier.com/international-journal-of-infectious-diseases/

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