The European Union by their EU4Health Programme will fund NoVir – a consortium of four European partners which will enhance public health resilience against future pandemics. This nearly €10 million grant will establish IFN-λ mRNA as an antiviral treatment option to be prepared against virus infections.
Based on our finding that IFN-λ mRNA formulations (ETH47) prevent virus infections (Macht et al., Embo Reports, 2024), and a highly successful phase-I clinical trial, the ERC is funding a 2-year project covering two phase II clinical trials and accommodating pre-clinical research. This collaborative effort between Ethris (Carsten Rudolph, Thomas Langenickel), Aarhus University (Soren Riis Paludan), and us will enable the development of ETH47 as an antiviral treatment that may be active against diverse viruses.
The NoVir project will run from 1 May 2025, to 30 April 2027 and will include the following aspects:
- Clinical rhinovirus challenge study in asthmatic and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients, populations at high risk for severe viral infections.
- Clinical study in healthy volunteers infected with influenza to assess ETH47’s antiviral efficacy.
- Preclinical research exploring ETH47’s protective effects against diverse viral pathogens.
- ETH47’s impact on intravaginal, ocular, and systemic infections.
- ETH47’s synergism with existing antiviral treatments.
We are very excited to research the breadth of ETH47 as a pan-antiviral agent that may help battle future epidemics and pandemics.