IDEA #7J7GDH COVID, AIDS, Antivirals 21A0017

The utility of the invention is as antivirals. Specifically, these molecules operate by binding glycans on the envelope proteins of viruses, and in doing so, disrupt the viral life cycle. Importantly, all enveloped glycans share a conserved set of surface glycans, so by binding these molecules, the antivirals will be active against many different viruses. Viruses cause pandemics. Pandemics are bad. There are no broad spectrum antivirals, so when a new virus hits, we are left with very few molecules for treating this viruses. Ideally, there would be a single molecule/therapy that would be active against all of these. AIDS, Zika, Covid, yellow fever, dengue. The need is persistent and acute. Given the state of the world right now, this doesn’t need much elaboration. The invention relates to the antiviral activity of synthetic carbohydrate receptors (SCRs). We have reported a library of these molecules previously and have submitted a patent, which has been licensed by Dultech. That patent claims molecules, and, to the best of my knowledge, no process or applications. Here, we show two things: (1) we have now carried out in vitro experiments, in collaboration with the Aguilar-Carreno group at Cornell University, showing that these molecules have potent anti-COVID activity. (2) In collaboration with researchers at Arizona State University, we have obtained data showing that SCRs bind the glycans on Spike protein, thereby providing direct evidence of the hypothesized mode of action: SCRs interrupt the viral life cycle by binding envelope glycans and preventing endocytosis by the host cell.