Virology, Emerging Diseases & vaccines

Antiviral Drug Discovery and Development

Viruses are intracellular pathogens that have evolved many devious strategies to evade host immune responses and, as a consequence, have plagued human health throughout history. Combating viral diseases with vaccines or antiviral drugs, or both, is a constant challenge. Even when successful strategies are discovered and employed, the high rate of genetic change exhibited by many viruses, particularly RNA viruses, often enables drug resistance or vaccine escape. This is compounded by the periodic emergence of new viral pathogens.This process can be lengthy and complex, often taking several years before a drug is approved for use. Regulatory agencies, such as the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), closely evaluate data from these trials to ensure that the drug is both safe and effective before it reaches the market. One of the challenges in antiviral drug development is the rapid mutation of many viruses, which can lead to drug resistance. For example, HIV can quickly evolve to resist certain antiretroviral drugs, leading researchers to develop combination therapies that target multiple stages of the viral lifecycle. Similarly, the emergence of new SARS-CoV-2 variants has spurred the rapid development of antiviral drugs and treatments, including monoclonal antibodies and protease inhibitors, to stay ahead of the virus's changing biology.