Project data
Initiative: | Innovative Approaches to Antiviral Drug Development |
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Allocation: | Jun 28, 2022 |
Period of funding: | 1 Year 3 Months |
Project information
The respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is the causative agent of globally prevalent respiratory tract infections. Treatment options are limited: the standard-of-care consist of support with fluids and oxygen. To address this unmet medical need, the project team aims to develop innovative RSV fusion protein inhibitors with superior potency and resistance-breaking properties. In own preliminary work, the researchers have established an innovative multi-parametric workflow for the lead optimization of differentiated inhibitors. The chemical optimization is informed by structural biology and a phenotypic RSV drug-resistance assay panel. There is a high potential for the development of drugs that evade resistance. This project involves collaborations with a pharmaceutical company, which has discovered an exquisitely potent RSV entry inhibitor with a unique three-fold symmetry matching the homo-trimeric structure of the fusion protein target. Sharing the RSV candidates, expertise and assay capacities of the consortium with the RSV entry inhibitor maximizes the synergies to deliver pre-candidates. The nomination of pre-candidates will be based on a proof-of-concept in a well-established RSV in vivo model.
Project participants
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Prof. Dr. Thomas Pietschmann
Medizinische Hochschule Hannover
TWINCORE - Zentrum für experimentelle und
klinische Infektionsforschung
Experimentelle Virologie
Hannover
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Prof. Dr. Gesine Hansen
Medizinische Hochschule Hannover
Zentrum Kinderheilkunde und Jugendmedizin
Klinik für Pädiatrische Pneumologie,
Allergologie und Neonatologie
Hannover
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Prof. Dr. Thomas Krey
Universität zu Lübeck
Institut für Biochemie
Lübeck
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Prof. Dr. Anna K. H. Hirsch
Helmholtz-Institut für Pharmazeutische
Forschung Saarland (HIPS)
Saarbrücken