Peregrine compounds to be tested for antiviral potential

Virus types to be screened as part of the collaboration potentially include herpes viruses, respiratory viruses, pox viruses, hepatitis B and C, papillomavirus and viruses of biodefense concern including Pichinde, yellow fever, West Nile and dengue.

During the first year of an ongoing three year, $1.68 million grant from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease (NIAID), scientists at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas determined that Tarvacin binds to virally infected cells and viral particles including Pichinde virus, which causes a fatal viral hemorrhagic fever and is used as an established model for Lassa fever.

The researchers further determined that Tarvacin, both an anti-tumor and an anti-viral agent, also significantly protected animals challenged with a lethal dose of Pichinde virus.

Pathogens to be screened in this collaboration belong to a class of viruses known as “enveloped viruses,” which derive their outermost coating from their host cell membrane during viral replication. Enveloped viruses account for many of the most concerning viral health risks including HIV, hepatitis B and C, cytomegalovirus, hemorrhagic fever, SARS and various types of influenza including avian influenza.