FP7 – Influenza – 2010

Novel therapeutics against influenza  (FLUCURE)

Influenza is a highly contagious acute viral infection, which causes annual epidemics as well as recurring pandemics, the most devastating being the “Spanish flu” of 1918 with 20-40 million deaths globally. Most recently, the pandemic influenza virus H1N1, usually referred to as “swine flu”, caused more than 18,000 deaths worldwide. Vaccination is currently the primary strategy for the fight against viral pathogens, but due to the virus’s notorious ability to mutate, new vaccines must be developed each year. Furthermore, in the absence of vaccines during the first wave of infections, antivirals will be the only direct medical intervention for providing both protection against disease and therapeutic benefit in infected persons. There are very few antiviral drugs available to date, most of them belonging to one of the two classes of M2 inhibitors (Amantadine and Rimantadine) or neuraminidase inhibitors (olsetamivir/Tamiflu®, zanamivir/Relenza®). However, their therapeutic potential is restricted through rapid appearance of drug-resistant viruses during treatment. Thus, the development of novel, more effective and less resistance-prone therapeutic approaches to inhibit the replication of the influenza virus is of utmost importance and urgency.
 
The FLUCURE project aims at developing innovative, first-in-class therapeutics against influenza by targeting its replication machinery (the ribonucleoprotein complex, RNP). Small molecule inhibitors will be designed that interfere with virus-specific protein-protein interactions ultimately avoiding viral replication and spread. A consortium of 9 European partners including Pharmacelsus will bring their expertise together to deliver several drug candidates suitable for clinical development.