Market Overview:
This inhibitor comprises a new strategy for mitigating the growth and spread of HIV. According to the World Health Organization, over 36 million people are living with HIV around the world. Consequently, the global HIV therapeutics market is estimated to reach a value of $15.3 billion by 2023. Most HIV inhibitors currently available are nucleoside or reverse transcriptase inhibitors. Increased resistance to these drugs calls for new approaches to HIV suppression, therefore non-nucleoside HIV inhibitors are in demand. Clemson University researchers have developed a new HIV inhibitor featuring two compounds that bind with viral RNA to suppress its ability to replicate. Because these two compounds work together to block virus replication at two separate points in the RNA strand, single point mutations cannot develop. This drastically reduces the occurrence of mutated RNA strands that may become drug-resistant. This inhibitor will be more effective and less risky than current treatments. Patients with HIV can expect suppression of the virus with low potential for eventual resistance.
Application Stage of Development
HIV treatment Concept
Advantages
• Blocks replication of virus at two points, preventing mutations from developing
• Decreases chance of mutation to a drug-resistant strain, effectively suppressing the virus
• Targets RNA within the replication cycle, providing more effective treatment than current therapies
Technical Summary
Clemson University researchers have developed RNA-targeted ligands that disrupt RNA-protein interactions critical for HIV replication, thus inhibiting HIV growth. The new strategy for RNA-targeted therapeutics would prevent virus proliferation. The innovative compounds, neomycin dimers and benzimidazole-neomycin conjugates, show significant inhibition of HIV and bind to crucial RNA structures responsible for virus replication. By targeting RNA at multiple points during the replication cycle, further spread of the virus can be prevented with a very low chance of developing drug resistance.
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Inventor: Dev P. Arya
Patent Type: Utility
Patent Number: 9,072,761
CURF Reference: 2010-001