Innovation Pharmaceuticals Inc (IPIX)

[Orion Nebula]

To develop an approved antiviral drug is a rare feat. There have only been 90 approved from 1959 through 2016, with possibly a few additional added to present. Of those 90, 11 have been discontinued, leaving 79 approved and still in use. Some of these are combination treatments, using 2, 3 or even 4 of the approved drugs.

Of the remaining 79 antiviral drugs, 38 are for treatment of HIV, leaving 41 antiviral treatments for all the other viruses that infect humans, of which there are around 220.

The approx. 220 viruses that infect humans do not include variants. For example, influenza alone has 4 types, many sub-types and strains, numbering over 200 kinds of viral infections that we know about. But it continues to mutate so the list grows. Type A flu is particularly dangerous and is capable of causing pandemics.

With all that viral complexity, through 2016 the approved antiviral medicines targeted only 9 infectious human diseases: HIV, HCV, HSV, HCMV, HPV, RSV, VZV, and influenza from seven viral families. The world is now laser focused on adding another viral family to that list: the coronaviridae.

Viruses are controlled in some cases by vaccines. In some cases, disease is controlled by both a vaccine and an antiviral. But for many diseases there is neither a vaccine or an antiviral. There is a long way to go and B is right in the thick of trying to improve our prospects of winning the battle against viruses.

Most of the info cited and more is in the linked article. It starts with photos of the authors and there is a strange zodiac chart for showing the timing of drug development by time and type. Maybe our resident astrologer will enjoy looking at that but I found it a little funky.

There is a long section of the article that examines the mechanisms of action of the antivirals, of which there are 12 kinds with a nod to a 13th which is for drugs of an immunomodulatory or antimitotic nature. These immunomodulatory drugs are very important as slcimmuno has pointed out and the article he attached to his post is a good read. IMO our approach to the virus so far has been imbalanced.

B has multiple mechanisms of action, including immunomodulatory. But guess what? They need to add a new category because the article does not include one for blowing up the viral coat. B is special.

https://cmr.asm.org/content/29/3/695/figures-only