This new drug candidate is effective against measles and other viruses, researchers say

A new drug candidate could help treat measles, croup and other related viral diseases that cause contagious and life-threatening respiratory infections, Georgia State University researchers say.

The new antiviral drug candidate, known as GHP-88310, is the “most promising inhibitor of this virus family that we have encountered in years of research,” Carolin Lieber, a senior postdoctoral fellow in the school’s Center for Translational Antiviral Research, explained in a statement alongside their related study.

Doctors currently treat croup – an infection of the upper airway that makes it difficult to breathe – with a steroid medication and measles can be prevented with two doses of the measles-mumps-rubella vaccine.

But there are no federally-approved antiviral drugs for measles beyond those that treat symptoms, the researchers note.

Both measles and croup are caused by a family of viruses known as orthoparamyxoviruses.

GHP-88310 is taken orally once a day, and well tolerated in rats, mice, ferrets and dogs at higher concentrations.

It protects against viruses attempting to evade the immune system’s defenses, the researchers note. That’s been a problem with Covid.

“High potency and excellent tolerability ensure a very wide safety margin, which is essential for a drug candidate developed for the treatment of highly vulnerable patient groups and children,” Richard Plemper, director of the Center for Translational Antiviral Research, said.

Children and immune compromised patients make up the majority of croup and measles cases.

Around 3 percent of U.S. children get croup annually and federal data shows most of this year’s nearly 2,000 measles cases are under the age of 19.

The program to develop the drug was specifically designed to address the needs of these patients, said Plemper.

“Re-emerging orthoparamyxoviruses such as the parainfluenza viruses and measles virus are a major threat to children and vulnerable groups such as the immunocompromised,” he said.

The researchers initially focused on parainfluenza virus type 3 as the primary target for the drug.

There are no vaccines or therapies available to manage that disease, which can cause croup and bronchitis and pneumonia in infants.

Measles was a secondary use for the drug.

Falling vaccination rates have fueled a resurgence of the virus, experts say, which was considered eliminated in the U.S. in 2000.

Increased vaccination was credited when officials declared an outbreak in South Carolina over earlier this year.

“To prevent measles from spreading, about 95 percent of the population needs to be vaccinated with the MMR vaccine,” Jennifer Nuzzo, director of the Pandemic Center at Brown University, said in an October interview. “That level of coverage creates what’s called herd immunity.”

Herd immunity ensures a disease cannot easily spread because most people are vaccinated against it.

“But we have slipped below that 95 percent. The US is under 90 percent now as a whole, but in communities across the country, the vaccination coverage is actually much, much lower,” she said.