Discovery and Development of Oral Small-molecule Direct-acting Antivirals Targeting Viruses of Pandemic Potential

Fast-Track proposals will be accepted. Direct-to-Phase II proposals will be accepted. Number of anticipated awards: 3-5 Budget (total costs): Phase I: $500,000 for up to 1 year Phase II: $2,000,000 for up to 3 years Background Typical drug discovery programs require several years to progress from target validation through initial lead series identification and optimization to selection of a candidate drug for clinical trials. Therefore, if efforts are initiated only after an outbreak or pandemic occurs, it is unlikely that a virus-specific small-molecule therapeutic will be available within a useful timeframe to have clinical impact. A potentially more effective approach is to invest drug discovery efforts aimed at building a more robust pipeline of antiviral lead series and drug candidates, so when a new outbreak or pandemic occurs, there will be more options available for clinical deployment. NIAID's goal is to support focused antiviral drug discovery efforts directed toward key viral pathogens or viral families and/or common drug targets or mechanisms-of-action with the aim of generating a more substantial pool of antiviral lead series and candidate drugs with the potential to provide antiviral drug candidates that might quickly pivot to address future viral outbreaks or pandemics. Of particular interest for this effort is identification and development of oral small-molecule drug candidates with suitable safety profiles for broad use in the outpatient setting.