To fight the Zika virus, BioCryst Pharmaceuticals Inc. is working on a drug that seems to be sending a glimmer of hope.
The test was conducted at Utah State University under an ongoing program by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health.
The Durham, N.C.-based BioCryst Pharmaceutical company announced Monday that its preclinical study at Utah University showed one dose of its "experimental antiviral drug" enhanced the survival rates of infected mice.
Zika, which is transmitted by mosquitoes, has so far been linked with brain damage to babies, and Brazil seems to be the epicenter of the epidemic. No vaccine or treatment has been discovered for the illness transmitted by the virus.
The team tested two doses of the drug BCX443 on a couple of groups, and then evaluated the effect of another placebo and an oral antiviral called ribavirin on two other controls. The researchers were trying to evaluate the effects of the drug on immune-deficient mice that were suffering from the virus.
While seven out of eight mice receiving the "standard" dose managed to stay alive, the others that got either a low dose, a placebo or ribavirin died after 28 days.
BCX4430 was given through intramuscular (I.M.) injection twice a day. The first one was given four hours before the virus attack, and went on for eight days. Of these, two dose levels were subjected to tests.
It was found that in the standard dose BCX4430 group, seven out of eight mice survived even after 28 days.
In the other low-dose BCX4430 group, and also in control groups in which the mice were given only placebos or ribavirin at two dose levels, not a single mouse survived.
It was hence discovered that the "overall survival" for the standard dose level of BCX4430 was superior.
Median survival was also better in both control groups. It worked out to more than 28 days for BCX4430 standard dose and 23 days for the low-dose group, while the control group survived only for 14 to 17 days.
Jon P. Stonehouse, president and CEO of BioCryst Pharmaceuticals, said, "BCX4430 currently represents the only single drug that has demonstrated a survival benefit in non-human primates infected with Marburg or Ebola viruses."
The development of this promising drug is largely funded by the U.S. Health and Human Services' BARDA (Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority) unit.
"This new BARDA contract provides continuity in the ongoing development of our broad spectrum antiviral, '4430, and moves this program closer to the finish line," Stonehouse said.
The data is being presented at a World Health Organization (WHO) meeting in Geneva, Switzerland, March 7 to 9.
