Respiratory and neurotropic viruses are a major human health and economic burden worldwide. Rather than targeting the fast-evolving viral components, inhibiting cellular factors that play key roles in the life cycle of respiratory viruses is a promising prophylactic ad therapeutic antiviral strategy. We have developed a combinatorial approach where multiple cellular proteins involved in membrane trafficking and proteolytic activation of viral surface proteins are simultaneously inhibited. Preliminary work in human primary 3D nasal epithelia, neuronal cell models, and preclinical animal models, demonstrated unprecedented efficacy. In this proposal we have two main aims: 1) to further refine the mechanisms of virus inhibition; 2) to optimise the combinatorial intranasal therapy and pave the way to clinical trials of the fist pan-antiviral formulation against two highly infectious human respiratory and neurotropic viruses.

2024

2028