Viroblock reports positive results of preclinical studies in antiviral nasal spray

Viroblock, a Swiss developer of blocking virus transmission technology, has announced that the first generation of VCCD Tech antiviral nasal spray formulation is active against human influenza.

The company's patented Cholesterol Catalytic Depletion Technology (VCCD Tech) inactivates enveloped viruses during the extra-cellular phase, by altering and destabilising cholesterol-rich viral envelopes.

Two pre-clinical studies conducted by Retroscreen Virology, a leader in the research and testing of antiviral compounds and vaccines, exposed ferrets to Influenza A Wisconsin/67/2005 and Panama/2007/99 strains. Both the direct inoculation and the natural transmission protocols have confirmed the effectiveness of the antiviral nasal spray.

Viroblock says these in vivo campaigns confirm all in vitro studies to date and VCCD Tech represents a breakthrough for inactivating a number of enveloped viruses and their strains.

"Our depletion technology shows no toxicity at the dosage we tested thus far and allegedly limits the development of any viral resistance, and makes it effective on all families of enveloped viruses, such as human and avian influenzas, SARS, AIDS, Ebola and smallpox viruses," said Viroblock's ceo Thierry Pelet.

"We, at Viroblock leverage all our technological assets for rapidly developing the next generation of antiviral nasal sprays; I am also confident that our technology will become an important element of pandemic influenza preparedness efforts."