New type of antiviral medication mimics immune protection from mother’s milk
In a research collaboration with BOKU University Vienna, former BBMRI.at director Kurt Zatloukal is developing new antiviral drugs that create mucosal immunity, similarly to antibodies found in mother’s milk.
Unlike most vaccines, which do not build immunity in the mucosae, this new type of drug, applied via nasal spray, is proposed to prevent infections where they often start – at the mucosa. For this purpose, a virus receptor protein is produced biotechnologically in plants, which is a very effective way of fabrication and spares the use of complex bioreactors.
Background for the development is the research work on COVID in the high-security laboratory of BBMRI.at partner Med Uni Graz led by Kurt Zatloukal. This enabled the researchers to filter out from a variety of approaches which one was particularly effective to prevent infections.
The production site of this new drug is set to be located in Lower Austria and clinical studies are in planning after promising results in cell culture and animal models.