Project: Translating systems virology data into broad-spectrum antiviral drugs
SysVirDrug is a translational project, aiming to establish a strategy for the development of true “antivirotics”– drugs that, analogously to antibiotics (which are effective only against bacterial infection), can be used to treat viral infections caused by a whole group of different viruses. SysVirDrug focuses on positive-strand RNA viruses, a broad class of viruses that extends from every-day infections such as the common cold to life-threatening diseases such as hepatitis C, dengue fever and SARS. SysVirDrug brings together world leading virological groups with computational and mathematical experts, with the aim to identify most efficient drug targets with broad antiviral efficacy. As viruses make extensive use of host mechanisms for their own benefit, SysVirDrug focuses on host cell processes as targets for antiviral treatment. The consortium can build on large-scale screening experiments that have been conducted by the partner laboratories, using RNA interference. These experiments identify host processes that are hijacked by specific viruses during the infection. Such processes are potential targets for “antiviotic” drug design, if they are targets of a whole group of different viruses. The SysVirDrug consortium uses a combination of wetlab experiments, sophisticated bioinformatics approaches and mathematical and computational modelling to identify most efficient, broadly active anti-viral targets or combinations of targets, and strategies to interfere with these target mechanisms to treat the infection. Chemoinformatics approaches are then used to identify suitable drug molecules targeting the identified host cell processes, which are subsequently tested and – if successful – will be commercialized with the help of a technology transfer partner.
| Acronym | SysVirDrug |
| Duration | 01/04/2015 - 31/03/2018 |
| Website | visit project website |
| Network | ERASysAPP |
| Call | ERASysAPP 1st Call |
Project partner
| Number | Name | Role | Country |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dresden University of Technology | Coordinator | Germany | |
| German Cancer Research Center | Germany | ||
| Heidelberg University | Germany | ||
| Heidelberg University Hospital - Technology Transfer Heidelberg | Germany | ||
| Leiden University Medical Center | Netherlands | ||
| NovaMechanics | Cyprus | ||
| Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich | Switzerland | ||
| Utrecht University | Netherlands |