ATLANTA — Researchers at Emory University, in collaboration with teams at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill and Vanderbilt University Medical Center, said they have discovered an antiviral compound that may be potentially used to treat the Wuhan coronavirus.
The non-profit firm Drug Innovation Ventures at Emory (DRIVE), which is wholly owned by the university, is developing the compound.
According to a release from Emory, the compound has shown some effectiveness in testing against the related coronaviruses known as SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) and MERS (Middle East Respiratory Syndrome).
Officials with DRIVE said they feel the drug has some potential, not only for fighting the Wuhan coronavirus, but against other viruses, including some Ebola and some forms of influenza.
“We have been planning to enter human clinical tests (of the compound) for the treatment of influenza, and recognized that it has potential activity against the current novel coronavirus,” said Dr. George Painter, director of the Emory Institute for Drug Development and CEO of DRIVE. “Based on the drug’s broad-spectrum activity against viruses including influenza, Ebola and SARS-CoV/MERS-CoV, we believe it will be an excellent candidate.”
Officials at DRIVE did not indicate how soon the compound would be ready for general use to treat the Wuhan coronavirus.
The development of the compound has been funded, at least in part, with federal funds from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and from the Defense Threat Reduction Agency, for the treatment of a number of different contagious and virulent biological threats.
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