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Effective Antivirals in Pandemic Preparedness: Past Mistakes, Future Needs

Antonios-Periklis Panagiotopoulos1, Cleo Anastassopoulou1, Athanasios Tsakris1

  • 1Department of Microbiology, Medical School, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece.

Clinical Infectious Diseases : an Official Publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America
|November 26, 2025
PubMed

Insights

Future pandemics require faster responses. A dedicated antiviral research and development agenda is proposed to complement vaccine-centric strategies, ensuring equitable access and better cost-benefit analysis for global health security.

Area of Science:

  • Pandemic preparedness
  • Antiviral research
  • Global health security

Background:

  • Current pandemic response systems face limitations in speed and flexibility.
  • COVID-19 R&D funding disproportionately favored vaccines over antivirals.
  • Limited or misleading early data on antiviral effectiveness hindered their use.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To propose a dedicated antiviral agenda for future pandemic preparedness.
  • To address the therapeutic blind spot in vaccine-centric pandemic strategies.
  • To ensure equitable global access to effective antiviral interventions.

Main Methods:

  • Coordinating research and development for broad-spectrum antiviral agents.
  • Funding Phase 2/3 clinical trials for high-severity pathogens.
  • Enabling rapid manufacturing scale-up and equitable global access strategies.

Main Results:

  • Antivirals offer potential advantages in early outbreak control and specific populations.
  • A coordinated antiviral agenda can fill critical therapeutic gaps.
  • Proposed strategies aim for transparency, equity, and rigorous evidence-based decision-making.

Conclusions:

  • A dedicated antiviral agenda is crucial for enhancing pandemic response flexibility and effectiveness.
  • Integrating antivirals alongside vaccines provides a more comprehensive pandemic preparedness strategy.
  • Future strategies must rigorously evaluate the cost-benefit and risk-benefit ratios of both vaccines and antivirals.
Keywords:
COVID-19antiviralspandemic preparednessvaccines

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