As the Trump administration continues to pivot away from vaccinations, it is pushing for the development of new antiviral therapies via the launch of a $100 million competition.
The inaugural Small Molecule Approaches for Rapid and Robust Treatment (SMART) Prize was unveiled by the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), an initiative within the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response (ASPR), in collaboration with VITAL, BARDA’s therapeutics and vaccines accelerator hub.
The SMART Prize will target the development of broad-spectrum, small-molecule antiviral therapies targeting viruses in the Togaviridae and Flaviviridae families.
“Currently, no FDA-approved broad-spectrum antivirals exist for any viruses within these families, which include dengue, zika, West Nile and chikungunya,” ASPR Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary John Knox said in a Feb. 3 release.
Vaccines against some of these diseases have had a checkered past, including well-documented safety controversies for approved dengue and chikungunya shots.
The competition is meant to unite experts in drug development, virology, artificial intelligence, medicinal chemistry and public health to develop easily accessible and resilient antiviral drugs that can target multiple viruses within the same family.
The first stage of the SMART Prize solicits concept papers describing plans to discover or advance broad-spectrum small-molecule antivirals for the Togaviridae and Flaviviridae families.
Future stages of the competition include identifying drug candidates that show reproductive antiviral activity, optimizing drug features and selecting a candidate for studies used to submit investigational new drug applications.
The work may also include completing nonclinical studies required by the FDA for human safety studies and assembling submissions suitable to initiate clinical trials.
“The SMART Antiviral Prize highlights how BARDA is using innovative partnership models to encourage both traditional and non-traditional innovators to develop creative and feasible solutions that help protect our nation’s health,” said BARDA Director Gary Disbrow, Ph.D. “Each broad-spectrum antiviral that advances to the clinic could help protect Americans from today’s threats and those still to come, providing greater value and stronger protection for our communities.”
VITAL will host a series of SMART Antiviral Prize virtual information sessions beginning later this month.
The federal push for antiviral development is in contrast to the Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) posture toward vaccines in recent months. Soon after being named HHS secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. last summer removed all 17 sitting members of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC’s) Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices and replaced them with leaders who were more skeptical of vaccines.
In August, the HHS announced a plan to end mRNA vaccine work funded by BARDA, impacting 22 projects valued at around $500 million. Earlier this year, the CDC axed six of 17 childhood vaccines from its recommended list. The changes have pushed mRNA leader Moderna to pull away from clinical trial investments in the area.
Alicia Jackson, Ph.D., the new leader of the health innovation program Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H), has also expressed the desire to make vaccines obsolete. Jackson told Fierce in January that ARPA-H hopes to extend the potency of antibodies that can quell infectious diseases.
“There’s actually a multitude of other technologies that you can use to protect people against infectious disease,” Jackson told Fierce. On the topic of vaccines, she said we may soon wonder “why were we even having that debate in the first place,” she said.
But the government isn’t completely giving up on the vaccine modality. Last May, the department launched a $500 million investment in the development of a “universal vaccine” designed to protect against multiple strains of a pandemic-prone virus at once. Other scientists have attempted to develop universal flu vaccines for years without finding success, but the HHS believes its program “marks the future of vaccine development.”
