The COVID-19 pandemic has revealed major shortcomings in our defense against newly emerging and reemerging RNA viruses with high pandemic potential. Established with the mission to meet this threat to human health, the Emory/Georgia State University Antiviral Countermeasures Development Center (AC/DC) identifies and develops applicable, direct acting antiviral drug candidates directed against major viral pathogens in five families of RNA viruses with significant pandemic potential, the coronaviruses, paramyxoviruses, flaviviruses, picornaviruses, and togaviruses.
This overarching objective is realized under the leadership of AC/DC MPIs Drs. Plemper and Painter, who have demonstrated the power of their combined expertise in identifying novel antiviral chemotypes and advancing them from hit stage to clinical candidate. This is best exemplified by their joint work on molnupiravir, the first oral antiviral therapeutic for COVID-19 authorized for human therapy. The MPIs have assembled a team of foremost experts in the biology of the viral pathogens being targeted. Their efforts are organized into five projects that are supported by cutting-edge technical expertise in the AC/DC scientific cores. Key competencies required for drug development are provided by the AC/DC platform; which include medicinal chemistry, drug metabolism and pharmacokinetics (DMPK)/tox, genomics, structural biology, and automated high-throughput screening (HTS) under high biocontainment conditions. Lifting strong synergies between AC/DC projects and scientific cores, the AC/DC will pioneer and advance much needed next-generation therapeutic opportunities for major pandemic viral threats.