UW-Madison school of Pharmacy designed a breakthrough in creating new small molecules that penetrate into the brain where the virus resides and interfere with viral replication to stop Equine Encephalitis Viruses (EEV).
Scientists are working to better resolve the mechanism behind the antiviral effects, along with compound characteristics that must be understood, before a compound can be developed into a drug.
The NIH funding establishes a new Center of Excellence for Encephalitic Alphavirus Therapeutics (CEEATR), which will support the preclinical development of small molecules to treat EEVs.
Work is in progress to develop a safe and effective broad-spectrum antiviral through preclinical assessment to clinical candidacy for FDA review before human clinical trials.
Balancing features that make a molecule effective against EEVs that is also safe for a patient is the challenging task for scientists.
The UW–Madison School of the pharmacy will have the full capabilities to identify, design, and develop novel compounds that will improve human health.
With the establishment of the CEEATR, the interdisciplinary research team has assembled a world-class team of scientists with exceptional cross-disciplinary drug development and scientific expertise to optimise antiviral compounds that are effective for emerging EEV viruses.
