New drugs and treatment for respiratory syncytial virus

The respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is a global health problem affecting infants and the elderly and claiming more lives than AIDS in many parts of the world. Only two antibody drugs are approved for its prevention, and ribavarin, a relatively nonspecific antiviral, is used for treatment. In the mid-1990s, a number of pharmaceutical and biotech companies initiated research programs against RSV. Together, the academic and the industrial R&D covered the whole spectrum of antibodies, vaccines, synthetic small molecule antiviral and antisense technology, and at one point, accounted for at least 25 active R&D programs. However, coincident to the marketing of the monoclonal antibody palivizumab (Synagis) in 1998, a sharp decline in such projects ensued. Many companies recently cancelled RSV projects during a prioritisation of their R&D portfolios although the continuing medical need, large market size and sales projections clearly indicate that a safe and effective RSV drug or vaccine is likely to attain blockbuster status. Today RSV receives an insignificant fraction of the R&D budget compared with AIDS, for example. This article reviews the present status of the anti-RSV regimen, covers drugs in the market and in development, and attempts to link basic research to industrial drug development, animal models of RSV, clinical trials, current clinical management, and present and future market projections. It is hoped that the unmet medical need of the victims of RSV will encourage continued involvement of the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry in developing safe and effective prevention and treatments for RSV.