Life & Chemistry

New Antiviral Drugs Target Common Cold and Infections

Written by admin-innovation

Angus MacLeod and colleagues note that although many HRV infections cause mild disease, they can lead to dangerous complications for millions of people with asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Previous potential drugs for HRV either didn't work or caused unacceptable side effects, leaving only one potential drug still under development in clinical trials. MacLeod's team set out to find new antiviral candidates to meet this serious health challenge.

They describe identifying and successfully testing a group of compounds that work against human rhinovirus, Coxsackie virus, poliovirus and enterovirus-71 — the cause of hand, foot and mouth disease. The substances work by blocking the ability of these viruses to multiply.

The American Chemical Society is a nonprofit organization chartered by the U.S. Congress. With more than 163,000 members, ACS is the world's largest scientific society and a global leader in providing access to chemistry-related research through its multiple databases, peer-reviewed journals and scientific conferences. Its main offices are in Washington, D.C., and Columbus, Ohio.

To automatically receive news releases from the American Chemical Society, contact newsroom@acs.org.

Comments (0)

Write a comment