Dengue therapeutics consortium 2025: a global collaboration in action

Area of Science:

• * Global Health
• * Infectious Diseases
• * Drug Development

Background:

• * Dengue fever is a growing global health emergency with increasing cases and vector range.
• * Current treatments lack efficacy, and no specific antiviral or host-directed therapies are proven to alter disease progression.
• * Existing healthcare systems are overwhelmed by the rising number of dengue cases annually.

Purpose of the Study:

• * To summarize the current state of dengue therapeutics research.
• * To identify necessary steps for ensuring equitable access to affordable and effective dengue treatments.
• * To propose methods for rapid screening of antiviral candidates and optimize clinical trial design.

Main Methods:

• * Review of the antiviral drug pipeline, including novel and repurposed candidates.
• * Proposal of human challenge studies and viral clearance rate studies for rapid screening.
• * Evaluation of ongoing Phase 2 and Phase 3 clinical trials for host-directed therapies and suggestions for future trial design.

Main Results:

• * A comprehensive overview of the dengue therapeutics landscape, including antiviral and host-directed approaches.
• * Identification of promising antiviral candidates and repurposed host-directed therapies.
• * Recommendations for optimizing clinical trial methodologies, including factorial randomization and core outcome sets.

Conclusions:

• * Multisectoral collaboration among scientists, clinicians, industry, and policymakers is crucial for developing effective dengue treatments.
• * Drug development must align with target product profiles, and clinical trials need patient- and regulator-acceptable endpoints.
• * Sustained commitment is required to ensure effective dengue therapies reach populations most in need.