Viral Disease

The current worldwide market for antiviral therapies to treat influenza A is over 1 billion dollars a year for oseltamivir, Tamiflu, alone. The demand is driven by the morbidity and mortality of viral infection and the identification of new highly transmitted strains causing illness worldwide.

There exists a significant need in community and hospital settings to develop therapeutic agents for respiratory viral infection. The key drivers are:

  1. The development of transmissible strains
  2. Emergence of resistance strains already reported in some areas
  3. Backup to vaccines

Gemmus compounds modulate the body's immune response to reduce tissue damage caused by an excessive immune reaction. This approach would decrease the tissue damage resulting from the excessive release of pro-inflammatory cytokines, cytokine storm, induced by viral infection. This approach focuses on reducing the side effects of the cytokine storm and its destructive impact throughout the body.