Cascade Open Call RN5: PANVIRIDE

The PANVIRIDE consortium seeks to address the pressing global challenge of emerging viral threats by developing broad-spectrum antivirals (BSAs) capable of inhibiting multiple viruses, with a focus on respiratory and vector- borne viruses.

Today, most infectious diseases caused by known viruses do not have a treatment (vaccine or drug) to prevent or cure them and the few antiviral drugs on the market today (around 100) are mainly active against viruses causing persistent or long term infections (e.g., HIV, HCV, herpes). With the ongoing evolution of viruses and their growing pandemic potential, the limitations of available antiviral drugs have become evident.

In this frame, PANVIRIDE’s mission is to accelerate the development of new antiviral drug candidates with a broad-spectrum of activity, to tackle the current and future outbreaks, or the emergence of drug-resistant viral strains. Specifically, two main objectives will be pursued:

• O1) fast track identification of broad- spectrum preclinical candidates starting from in-house antiviral Lead-like molecules
• O2) rational optimization of the wide in-house collection of antiviral Hits, targeting either/both viral or/and host proteins involved in the replication of multiple viruses

By exploiting partners’ experience in antiviral drug discovery and the wide range of preliminary data already available, the PANVIRIDE consortium is well-positioned to meet the urgent need for effective antivirals in the context of infectious disease management and public health preparedness and response