Targeting Covid-19 with a Therapeutic Interfering Particle

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SUMMARY The Covid-19 pandemic caused by Severe Acute Respiratory Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is currently the most important public health crisis in the world. Given the unprecedented scope of this disease, it is critical to explore novel strategies to mitigate this crisis. Aleph Therapeutics and UCSF have jointly developed eTIP1, a Therapeutic Interfering Particle. eTIP1 was developed under a DARPA-funded program and shows potent broad-spectrum activity across enteroviruses (Poliovirus Type 1 and 3, EVA71, and Coxsackievirus B3) as well as respiratory viruses EV-D68/HRV-87, Rhinovirus A16 and A1B, and Influenza A. Recently we have shown that eTIP1 significantly inhibits replication of SARS-CoV-2 both in cell culture and in K18-ACE2 mice. Given these results, it is critical to thoroughly evaluate eTIP1 as a potential agent against SARS-CoV-2. This work could be the starting point for a potential therapy or prophylactic agent against SARS-CoV-2. This would also represent a significant breakthrough for the development of a broad-spectrum antiviral agent that could potentially target current and future viral threats.