ANTIVIRALSEuropean Training Network on Antiviral Drug Development
Frank van Kuppeveld
Scientific Coordinator of ANTIVIRALS,
based at the Department of Infection
and Immunity, Faculty of Veterinary
Medicine, Utrecht University, the
Netherlands
Research field
Antiviral Drug Development
Funding
€ 3,849,087
Project Grant Agreement no: 642434
Project Url: ANTIVIRALS project website [1]
Training Europe's next leaders in antiviral drugdiscovery
Who?
"I want to introduce PhD students into the fascinating world of
viruses”, says Professor van Kuppeveld. “In particular, we study
how viruses hijack the cellular metabolism and infrastructure to
reproduce themselves. We are working on novel technologies to
develop new inhibitors of virus infections."
Why?
Viruses are a major cause of disease, death and economic loss
worldwide. Virus infections can be controlled with antiviral
drugs. However, these drugs only exist for a limited number of
viruses. We urgently need drugs to fight more viruses, but there
is a shortage of scientists that are properly trained to do this
job.
What?
ANTIVIRALS is a training project. Our aim is to prepare talented
young researchers for a career in antiviral drug development.
The ANTIVIRALS students will search for novel inhibitors of virus
replication. These inhibitors will be characterised and
developed into potent candidate drugs for antiviral therapy.
How?
ANTIVIRALS is a consortium of seven academic and five
industrial partners. We will provide 15 researchers with state-of-
the-art scientific knowledge and technological skills through
multiple workshops and courses. In individual research projects,
the students will use their knowledge to develop candidate
antiviral drugs.
1
Viral infections are a major cause of diseaseworldwide
Image: Scientist working with disease-causing viruses in a
Biosafety Level 3 laboratory (Credit: Marc de Haan)
Only a few viral diseases can be prevented byvaccination
Image: CDC employee receives flu vaccine (Credit: James
Gathany, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
Antiviral drugs are only available for HIV, influenza,hepatitis C and some DNA viruses (e.g., herpes)
Image: Scanning electron micrograph of HIV particles (yellow)
infecting a human T cell (blue and green) (Credit: National
Institutes of Health)
We urgently need antiviral drugs to treatinfections with other viruses such as dengue,chikungunya, enteroviruses, coronaviruses andrespiratory syncytial virus
Image: scientist inspecting a cell culture
2
Antiviral drug development requires a detailedunderstanding of the molecular mechanisms ofvirus replication
Image: scientist assessing cell viability through a microscope
Few, if any, European research institutes have thebroad know-how required to deliver acomprehensive training in antiviral drugdevelopment
Image: ANTIVIRALS training session
As a result, there is a shortage of scientists withthe right skills to advance this challenging field
Image: scientist working in a laboratory
ANTIVIRALS will train 15 talented researchers for aleading role in antiviral drug discovery
Image: ANTIVIRALS students and teachers
3
The ANTIVIRALS consortium consists of 7academic partners (purple) and 5 industrialpartners (green and grey)
ANTIVIRALS' goal is to identify and characterisenovel virus inhibitors and to develop them intopotent candidate drugs
Image: testing antiviral compounds on cell cultures
4
1599
The word virus appears for the first time, originally meaning 'venom'
1822
Louis Pasteur is born; he proposed that micro-organisms such as bacteria cause disease
1898
First virus described: tobacco mosaic virus
1960s
The first experimental antivirals are developed, a time-consuming and difficult process
1980s
The full genetic sequences of viruses begin to be unravelled, helping scientists to understand how
viruses work, making drug development easier
2011
Start of the EUVIRNA training project, upon which ANTIVIRALS builds
2015
ANTIVIRALS starts; its aim is to train leaders in antiviral drug discovery
5
ANTIVIRALS project website [1]
Meet the ANTIVIRALS students [2]
EUVIRNA (the previous training project upon which ANTIVIRALS builds) [3]
Video: Frank van Kuppeveld about antiviral drug development [4]
Vincent Racaniello's virology blog [5]
More European virology on HorizonHealth.eu [6]
VacTrain (a similar project) [7]
Project Url: http://www.horizonhealth.eu/project/european-training-network-antiviral-drug-
development/380
HorizonHealth.eu is an initiative of CommHere
6
