National Institutes of Health, NIAID / Science Photo Library
Given the time required to develop vaccines, therapies against the Zika virus are urgently needed.
In a recent paper, US researchers screened 6,000 existing drugs and drug candidates for potential anti-Zika properties using an enzyme activity assay and a cell viability assay.
They found that one compound, emricasan (in development for use in chronic hepatitis C infection), prevents Zika-related neural cell death and a second compound, PHA-690509, can inhibit viral replication within neural cells.
They also discovered that niclosamide – an anthelmintic drug that has been used for nearly 50 years and is thought to be safe for use during pregnancy – can prevent Zika replication.
The findings should have a significant impact on the development of Zika therapeutics, but animal studies will be critical to confirming efficacy and toxicity, the researchers conclude in Nature Medicine (online, 29 August 2016)[1]
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References
[1] Xu M, Lee EM, Wen Z et al. Identification of small molecule inhibitors of Zika virus infection and induced neural cell death via a drug repurposing screen. Nature Medicine 2016. doi: 10.1038/nm.4184
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