antiviral drugs news from FierceBioResearcher

Scientists at the University of Utah have developed a 'molecular condom' to protect women from AIDS. The smart condom is a vaginal gel that releases antiviral drugs when it comes into contact with semen. The research project is part of a widespread effort to develop microbicides to prevent the spread of HIV. There are some 16 microbicides in the developmental phase and five are being tested among African women. The researchers say the smart condom is still five years away from human …

Scientists at Rice University and the University of Texas in Austin say that they've found a weakness in the flu virus--both common flu viruses as well as bird flu--that could be a very effective target for new antiviral drugs. The target is the nucleoprotein, the flexible tail loop of the flu protein, often referred to as NP in shorthand. Any changes in the tail prevent the NPs from stacking together, a process that's necessary before cells begin to create the virus. A new antiviral that …

A leading WHO scientist concludes that the H5N1 strain of bird flu shows all the earmarks of being able to repeatedly mutate as it develops resistance against any antiviral drugs that are deployed against it. Mike Perdue says the only two anti-viral drugs currently believed to be at least somewhat effective against the virulent bird flu--Tamiflu and …