2023-09-09 03:00:00
Hepatitis, HIV, Chikungunya and Corona — viruses cause numerous diseases. Not all of them endanger as many people as Sars-Cov 2, the corona virus. For some, medication helps, for others only the hope that the body can cope with it itself can help. And what works against one virus does not necessarily work against others. Many companies are researching such broad-spectrum drugs, a multi-billion dollar market. So far there is no solution. That could change if Christian Sigl and his team are right.
Sigl is the head of Capsitec, an almost two-year-old company from Planegg near Munich. The biophysicist and his co-founders originally had nothing to do with virology, but a lot to do with DNA, the blueprints of all cells. Maybe that’s why they came up with a new approach to a novel antiviral drug. They made it to the second round of a competition run by the Federal Agency for Leap Innovation (Sprind) in Leipzig. She looks for ideas that can change lives sustainably. Above all, it’s about using these ideas economically. In this case it is a broad-acting virus drug, similar to an antibiotic against bacteria.
Capture the aggressors and keep them cold
The human immune system is usually stimulated to fight viruses. This is the case, for example, with the Corona vaccine from Biontech. Capsitec’s idea is different: Instead of vaccinating people against the viruses, i.e. setting up the body to police the attackers, you could also capture the aggressors and keep them cold so that they no longer multiply. And it is possible that different types of viruses can be caught at the same time. All you need is the right landing net.
What sounds simple is very complicated because everything is very small. The landing nets, or the shells as Sigl calls them, that Capsitec is currently working with have a diameter of 40 to 85 nanometers, significantly smaller than a human cell. A hair is around 1000 times thicker.
The virus catchers are already working in the laboratory
The company therefore uses DNA as a building material. They take a very long, self-programmed half strand of DNA and mix it with other very short half strands. Up to 200 strands in total are necessary. The short ones attach themselves to the long DNA strand in a predetermined order and force it into the desired shape, including tailor-made anchors for the viruses. The process can be repeated as desired. The technology of this DNA origami has been known for a long time, but it has not yet been used for medication. “We then coat the inside of the shell with a kind of glue for the viruses,” says biophysicist Christian Sigl.
The virus catchers are already working in the laboratory. Sigl reports that they fished out practically all of the viruses that they were used on. Tests were carried out with the corona virus, with influenza viruses, the tropical chikungunya and HPV16, which causes uterine cancer. Virus cocktails were also neutralized. According to Sigl, initial experiments with mice were also promising. So it could be something. Especially since the technology works even if a virus mutates. “The surface of the shells still offers enough adhesive surface,” says Max Große, virologist at Capsitec. Classic vaccines have to be adjusted again and again as the virus changes. Accordingly, the population can only be protected with a delay.
Market potential is great
The market potential is great. Last year, around $50 billion (47 billion euros) was spent on the ten most efficient virus therapies, says Sigl. However, there are numerous other viruses for which there is currently hardly any treatment. Researchers at the University of Chicago calculated in the fall of 2022 that another global pandemic like Corona would cost at least $800 billion — if no precautions were taken.
The so-called Sprind Challenge for a broadband drug started in 2021 with nine teams, and in the second round there are five more, in addition to Capsitec, who will receive financial support. The screening will take place again in the fall: whoever makes it to the third round will receive another two million euros. By the end of 2024, the teams should have developed their idea to such an extent that the drug can also be tested on humans.
Nasal spray or syringe
It is unclear who pays for this. It can take ten years from the idea to the sale of a drug. And it can quickly cost more than a billion euros – the clinical studies in particular are complex and expensive. They are mandatory and are intended to show whether a medication is safe and actually has added health benefits. The failure rate is high. Even at large pharmaceutical companies, often only one active ingredient out of 100 makes it into the finished drug.
It may be that Capsitec’s virus catcher promises a lot, but fails in the studies. Among other things, the technology of using artificial DNA as a building material is new for medicines. And the human body normally vehemently rejects foreign DNA. Experts are therefore rather skeptical. Shouldn’t he react like that, what happens to the shell and the captured virus? “We believe that the body breaks down both as a complex and the virus cannot get out.”
The question remains how the drug is administered. A nasal spray would be possible. Maybe it will just stay with the syringe. Only the effect would be different than the classic vaccine.
1694229160
#viruses #captured #future