Designing Polymers as Broad-Spectrum Antivirals to Rapidly Fight Emerging Viral Infections
Abstract
The threat of emerging viral disease has been made glaringly apparent in the emergence of COVID-19 in 2020. COVID-19 and other viral pandemics highlight the need for new, broad-spectrum therapeutics for the rapid treatment of infectious disease. Vaccines, our current best protection, have a significant delay between viral identification and large-scale production, with limited therapeutics options available for pandemic threats in the interim. This was evident in 2020, where even with rapid vaccine development and international cooperation the first vaccine did not receive regulatory approval until December, 6 months after it was declared a Global Pandemic by the World Health Organization. Throughout the year, a range of therapeutics options were investigated, with little benefit and in some cases creating additional harm. One of the additional challenges with emerging viral infections is the often excessive inflammation that leads to much of the damage caused by the disease. From these factors, it is clear there is a need for new therapies that can both treat the virus infecting the body, but also control the inflammation associated with the disease, to improve recovery. This project will aim to create new materials that can combine multiple therapies into one treatment. The project will synthesize polymers that mimic one of the body’s natural defense systems – antiviral peptides. These polymers will bind to the surface of the virus, preventing it from being able to infect human cells. To improve the polymers’ ability to bind to the virus, molecules that viruses normally bind to on human cell’s will be attached to the polymers. This increase in specificity will reduce damage to the patient’s cells and tissues and reduce toxicity. When a patient is infected with the virus, the body’s immune system will trigger an inflammatory response to fight the infection. This can become uncontrolled and lead to excessive damage. Antioxidants can reduce some of this damage. This project will study how antioxidants can be combined with the antiviral polymers to improve the overall treatment and recovery from viral diseases, which has not been investigated before. The antiviral polymers proposed in this project are similar to common plastics and can be manufactured using similar processes. This will allow for mass production and stockpiling of these therapeutics. Because of the modular chemistries used in the design of these materials, they provide the opportunity rapidly adapt these stockpiles to fight any new emerging infection, allowing for a rapid response to a pandemic. They will also provide affordable therapeutics against neglected tropical diseases, common in developing countries. By developing polymers as new antivirals, this project hopes to develop affordable and rapidly deployable antivirals to treat emerging viral diseases. Funding from the PRMRP Discovery Award will allow for the proof of this new and innovative concept. These preliminary findings will allow the team to apply for funding from major medical grants, to support the clinical development of these materials. It is hoped that the fundamental knowledge gained in this short project will allow for the eventual development of a clinical therapeutic that can aid in the defense against emerging viral diseases. These new therapies are needed to protect civilian populations and maintain operational preparedness of military forces.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Dec 28, 2022
- Source ID
- W81XWH2210106
Entities
People
- Nathan R Boase
Organizations
- Queensland University of Technology
- United States Army