Harnessing the power of novel animal-free test methods for the development of COVID-19 drugs and vaccines.

Harnessing the power of novel animal-free test methods for the development of COVID-19 drugs and vaccines. Arch Toxicol. 2020 May 23;: Authors: Busquet F, Hartung T, Pallocca G, Rovida C, Leist M Abstract The COVID-19-inducing virus, SARS-CoV2, is likely to remain a threat to human health unless efficient drugs or vaccines become available. Given the extent of the current pandemic (people in over one hundred countries infected) and its disastrous effect on world economy (associated with limitations of human rights), speedy drug discovery is critical. In this situation, past investments into the development of new (animal-free) approach methods (NAM) for drug safety, efficacy, and quality evaluation can be leveraged. For this, we provide an overview of repurposing ideas to shortcut drug development times. Animal-based testing would be too lengthy, and it largely fails, when a pathogen is species-specific or if the desired drug is based on specific features of human biology. Fortunately, industry has already largely shifted to NAM, and some public funding programs have advanced the development of animal-free technologies. For instance, NAM can predict genotoxicity (a major aspect of carcinogenicity) within days, human antibodies targeting virus epitopes can be generated in molecular biology laboratories within weeks, and various human cell-based organoids are available to test virus infectivity and the biological processes controlling ...
Source: Archives of Toxicology - Category: Toxicology Authors: Tags: Arch Toxicol Source Type: research