BioCryst’s BCX4430 drug improves survival rates in mice infected with Zika virus

Two doses of the drug were tested against a placebo and an oral antiviral called ribavarin to evaluate their effect on survival of immune-deficient mice infected with Zika virus.

Seven of eight mice infected with Zika virus that received the standard dose of the BCX4430 drug survived through 28 days of a study, the targeted survival point.

Of the eight mice that received a lower dose, and 16 in control groups, none survived through 28 days.

BioCryst carried out the study at Utah State University under an ongoing program run by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), which is part of the National Institutes of Health.

BCX4430 is a spectrum antiviral that is being tested in a phase 1 clinical safety and pharmacology study in healthy subjects.

It demonstrated survival benefits in nonclinical studies against various severe pathogens such as Ebola, Marburg, and Yellow Fever viruses.

Last month, two Texas medical centers have developed what they claim are the country’s first hospital-based rapid tests for the Zika virus.

Researchers at Texas Children’s Hospital and Houston Methodist Hospital developed the test that identifies the genetic material of the Zika virus.

In an another development, the preclinical testing of Inovio Pharmaceuticals’ synthetic DNA vaccine for the Zika virus induced durable immune responses.

The World Health Organization declared the virus to be an international public health emergency. The symptoms of the virus include fever, rash, joint pain, itching, conjunctivitis or red eyes, headache, muscle pain, and eye pain.

Image: Aedes aegypti – a mosquito vector of Zika virus. Photo: courtesy of Rafaelgilo.