Novel strategies against infectious diseases

Antiviral drugs are only available to treat a limited number of viral infections. For many other major viral pathogens, there are no antivirals available. From time to time, new viruses emerge that can cause major epidemics or even pandemics. However, the development of vaccines against such viruses can only begin once their genetic code has been deciphered. It is far from certain that (contrary to what was possible for SARS-CoV2) it will always be possible to develop effective vaccines against future new viruses (e.g., after 41 and 35 years respectively there are still no vaccines against HIV or HCV). In addition, vaccines can become ineffective against new variants of the pathogen that may emerge. Since viruses belong to families and that most families are likely known, it should be possible to develop pan-family antiviral drugs. These will be essential for the treatment of viral infections that can still not be treated today and for epidemic/pandemic prevention as well as biodefense. This project aims to continue our mission to develop such antiviral strategies and to further strengthen our leading international position.