Anti-virals

Bioterrorism

The threat of bioterrorism has emerged as a very real one as a result of the attacks of 9/11/2001 and the subsequent mailings of anthrax to prominent locations. Among bioterrorism threats, smallpox ranks high;  it has a long incubation period, infects via inhalation, is highly contagious, and the population at large is unvaccinated.  Therefore, the need for a smallpox treatment to counter this bioterrorist threat is high.

TTP Translational Technology^®, a novel, proprietary drug discovery engine, was applied to the discovery of inhibitors of propogation of vaccinia virus, a laboratory model for orthopox viruses.    Multiple classes of compounds emerged from this exercise which are potent for inhibition of vaccinia replication in BSC40 cells.

TTP018, a member of the most prominent class of compounds discovered against vaccinia, is efficacious in mouse models of vaccinia, cowpox and ectromelia and is in preclinical development.