ST. LOUIS, May 20 (UPI) -- U.S. medical scientists say they've discovered a smallpox drug might also target the adenovirus -- one cause of the common cold.
The researchers at St. Louis University said their findings might lead to the first human testing of a drug to target the adenovirus, which not only causes the common cold, but also several severe upper-respiratory infections.
There are no drugs approved specifically to treat adenovirus infections, in large part because there has been no animal model in which to test drug candidates -- a key prerequisite before testing in humans.
Now, the SLU scientists and their collaborators report two breakthrough findings: an animal model suitable for adenovirus testing -- in this case using Syrian hamsters -- and a drug that successfully attacks the adenovirus in the animals.
The drug, hexadecyloxypropyl-cidofovir is under development by Chimerix Inc. as a biodefense agent to meet the threat of smallpox or monkeypox viruses, and as an antiviral agent in transplant patients.
The SLU research appears in the early online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
