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New Antiviral Therapy May Block COVID-19 Transmission [1]

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Date: 2022-09-10

Sonali Chaturvedi (left) and her colleagues in Leor Weinberger’s lab at Gladstone Institutes show that a new single-dose intranasal treatment for SARS-CoV-2 infection decreases viral shedding and limits transmission of the virus. Seen here with Daniela Lopez (right). Photo: Michael Short/Gladstone Institutes

Promising news. The more we can prevent the spread, the quicker we’ll get out of this pandemic. Which, by the way, is still raging in the U.S. with 100,000+ newly diagnosed cases a day — not counting home tests and untested cases — and 500-1000+ deaths a day. In warm weather.



SAN FRANCISCO, Sept. 9, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- By the time you test positive for COVID-19, the SARS-CoV-2 virus has already taken up residence in your respiratory system. With each breath, you expel invisible viral particles into the air—a process known as viral shedding. Existing drugs aimed at treating COVID-19, even when they address symptoms of the virus, do little to quell viral shedding. Researchers at Gladstone Institutes previously developed a novel approach for treating infectious diseases: a single-dose, intranasal treatment that protects against severe SARS-CoV-2 infection. In a new study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, they show that this new treatment, called a therapeutic interfering particle (TIP), also decreases the amount of virus shed from infected animals and limits transmission of the virus. "Historically, it has been exceptionally challenging for antivirals and vaccines to limit the transmission of respiratory viruses, including SARS-CoV-2," says Gladstone Senior Investigator Leor Weinberger, PhD, senior author of the new paper. "This study shows that a single, intranasal dose of TIPs reduces the amount of virus transmitted, and protects animals that came into contact with that treated animal." www.prnewswire.com/...

This would be a sea change in several ways:

First, it’s likely more unvaccinated or undervaccinated people would get it since it won’t be a shot. Secondly, an antiviral that can train our systems to recognize any COVID mutation including variants yet to be seen. Lastly, preventing infectious COVID virus particles from infecting people in close proximity. Vital in American society where too many balk at even wearing a mask in the store.

"To our knowledge, this is the only single-dose antiviral that reduces not only symptoms and severity of COVID-19, but also shedding of the virus," says Sonali Chaturvedi, PhD, a research investigator at Gladstone and first author of the paper. A Drug that Evolves Viruses like SARS-CoV-2, as well as influenza and HIV, evolve over time, becoming resistant to drugs and making it difficult to develop long-lasting treatments. More than two decades ago, Weinberger first proposed the idea of therapeutic interfering particles (TIPs) to treat viruses; rather than directly target a portion of a virus, TIPs compete for resources in an infected cell. By hogging the replication machinery inside a cell, they can keep the virus from churning out more copies of itself.

This could also be a game changer in preventing the spread of annual flu strains:

The benefit of TIPs, though, goes beyond their ability to stifle a virus inside infected cells. Because TIPs reside inside the same cells as the virus they target, they evolve at the same time, staying active even as new viral strains emerge. "Over the last few years, many of the challenges of the pandemic have been related to the emergence of new variants," says Chaturvedi. "TIPs would be an ideal treatment because they keep learning as the virus evolves, so they could keep the problem of drug resistance in check."

Wishing this endeavor all the best.

More about this promising development in the article

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[1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2022/9/10/2122071/-New-Antiviral-Therapy-May-Block-COVID-19-Transmission

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