Researchers in a Rush to Perfect a Promising New Oral COVID-19 Treatment to Potentially Replace Paxlovid

Researchers in a Rush to Perfect a Promising New Oral COVID-19 Treatment to Potentially Replace Paxlovid

A team of scientists at Rutgers University is in the process of developing a groundbreaking oral COVID-19 treatment called Jun12682, poised to serve as a possible alternative or enhancement to Paxlovid based on encouraging results from animal studies. This innovative medication targets a crucial viral protein and boasts compatibility with concurrent medications, marking a significant improvement over existing therapeutic options for COVID-19.

The researchers at Rutgers University are spearheading the development of Jun12682, a potential game-changer in the realm of oral COVID-19 treatments, demonstrating effectiveness in animal models and demonstrating compatibility with existing medications, setting it apart from the current gold standard, Paxlovid.

Their recent publication in the prestigious journal Science details their findings on an alternative treatment, a viral papain-like protease inhibitor, which has successfully halted disease progression in animal models, laying the groundwork for future human clinical trials.

Jun Wang, the senior author of the study and an associate professor at Rutgers' Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy, emphasized the critical need for additional COVID-19 treatment options, especially with the inevitable mutations that may render Paxlovid ineffective in the future.

Development of an Innovative Drug

The research team at Rutgers aimed to develop a medication that targets the viral papain-like protease (PLpro), a pivotal protein across various COVID-19 strains. Leveraging detailed insights into PLpro's structure provided by the Arnold Lab at Rutgers' Center for Advanced Biotechnology and Medicine (CABM), Wang's team synthesized 85 drug candidates tailored to interact with and disrupt this essential protein.

Eddy Arnold, a professor at CABM and the Rutgers Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, emphasized the groundbreaking design concepts implemented by Wang's team based on the unique binding patterns of the drug candidates to the PLpro protein.

Laboratory assessments revealed that Jun12682, the most potent among the drug candidates, effectively inhibited multiple strains of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, including variants resistant to Paxlovid treatment. Further testing on SARS-CoV-2-infected mice by the Deng lab at Oklahoma State University demonstrated that oral administration of Jun12682 reduced viral loads in the lungs, mitigated lesions, and enhanced survival rates.

Wang highlighted the comparable efficacy of their treatment to the initial animal tests of Paxlovid and underscored a key advantage of Jun12682 over the existing medication. He noted that Paxlovid's interference with various prescription medications posed a significant challenge for individuals at high risk of severe COVID-19, whereas Jun12682 exhibited no apparent interactions with major drug-metabolizing enzymes.

Rutgers has initiated patent applications for Jun12682 and the other drug candidates, seeking partnerships to facilitate the continued testing and development of this promising oral COVID-19 treatment.

Reference: “Design of a SARS-CoV-2 papain-like protease inhibitor with antiviral efficacy in a mouse model” by Bin Tan, Xiaoming Zhang, Ahmadullah Ansari, Prakash Jadhav, Haozhou Tan, Kan Li, Ashima Chopra, Alexandra Ford, Xiang Chi, Francesc Xavier Ruiz, Eddy Arnold, Xufang Deng and Jun Wang, 28 March 2024, Science.