Aplidin is extracted from Aplidium albicans, a sea squirt found off the coast of Spain.
“If you get a drug that targets a human protein, it would be incredibly hard for the virus to mutate away from being reliant on it,” said Nevan Krogan, the director of QBI.
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID)
Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) viral particles under an electron microscopic.
“This is looking across coronaviruses and finding the commonalities so we’re in a better position to attack SARS3 when it comes,” said Nevan Krogan, the director of QBI.
Danica Galonić Fujimori, PhD, will receive $1.25 million in funding over the next five years from the endowment of the late William K. Bowes, Jr., a venture capitalist and longtime UCSF supporter.
The antiviral invented by Aashish Manglik, PhD, and colleagues is effective at blocking SARS-CoV-2 infection even as an aerosolized spray, according to laboratory testing.
School scientists developed an antiviral that fights SARS-CoV-2 that can be given as a nasal spray.
Nevan Krogan, PhD (standing), leads a meeting of the QBI Coronavirus Research Group with fellow UCSF faculty members (seated from left) Danica Galonic Fujimori, PhD; Natalia Jura, PhD; James Fraser, PhD; and David Agard, PhD.
The QBI Coronavirus Research Group found six drugs that effectively beat back SARS-COV-2 in the laboratory.