CellVir, founded in March 2006, is developing a new generation of anti-retrovirals based on a novel therapeutic mode of action. Instead of targeting the inhibition the catalytic activity of viral enzymes (as do most of today’s drugs),
CellVir proposes to target the host-virus protein-protein interactions which have been shown to be essential for viral replication in infected cells.
This innovative mode of action should confer several key advantages such as complimentarity to existing drugs by lack of susceptibility to cross resistance mechanisms with these drugs, and increased genetic barrier to resistance mutations. CellVir’s current program of research is focused on HIV-1. However, the technologies developed by CellVir’s scientists to fight AIDS are entirely applicable to other emergent virally caused diseases such as HCV, SARS or Avian Flue.