Oral remdesivir derivative VV116 is a potent inhibitor of respiratory syncytial virus with efficacy in mouse model

Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is the leading cause of serious lower respiratory tract disease in children under 5 years of age worldwide, causing an estimated 3.2 million hospitalizations and 120,000 deaths in children globally per year. Furthermore, nearly all children can be infected with RSV by 2 years of age, and individuals can be repeatedly re-infected with RSV throughout life, which poses great threats to infants, the elderly, and immunocompromised persons. At present, only palivizumab has been approved in the United States as a prophylactic treatment for the prevention of serious lower respiratory tract disease in children at high risk of RSV disease. However, palivizumab is only effective in ~50% of individuals in preventing hospitalization and the cost is prohibitive. 1 Given the disease burden, RSV has been a priority for vaccine and antiviral drugs for over 50 years.