Utilizing funds provided for in the American Rescue Plan, the Biden Administration announced last week that it will invest more than $3 billion into the Antiviral Program for Pandemics, promoting the pursuit, development, and manufacturing of antivirals for COVID-19.
That program will be run through a collaboration of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and its National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), as well as the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA). It will prioritize the continued need for new COVID-19 antiviral treatments and medicines to prevent serious cases while building sustainable platforms for discovering and developing antivirals with use for other pandemic-capable viruses and future health threats.
“New antivirals that prevent serious COVID-19 illness and death, especially oral drugs that could be taken at home early in the course of disease, would be powerful tools for battling the pandemic and saving lives,” Dr. Anthony Fauci, chief medical adviser to the president and NIAID Director, said. “Through multidisciplinary collaborations among leading scientists in academia and industry, this investment from the American Rescue Plan to create the Antiviral Program for Pandemics will help inspire medical innovation and build on the extraordinary success we have seen in developing the COVID-19 vaccines.”
Overall, the plan hastens and grows support for clinical trials of prioritized COVID-19 drug candidates and supports the advanced development of promising therapies. The success of such actions can already be seen in the form of the public-private partnership ACTIV or Accelerating COVID-19 Therapeutics and Vaccines, which has brought 19 therapeutic agents to fruition.
“Even with very effective vaccines, some people may remain vulnerable to the virus, including people who are immunosuppressed or who are unvaccinated,” said Dr. David Kessler, chief science officer for the Biden administration’s COVID-19 Response. “An easily administered oral antiviral drug would be an important part of our therapeutic arsenal that would complement the great success of our vaccine efforts. Our Administration is going to harness the power of American ingenuity to spur the creation and development of these drugs that can save lives both here in the United States and around the world.”
Going forward, the plan will see NIH evaluate, prioritize and advance antiviral candidates to phase two clinical trials, with more than $300 million in support for research and lab efforts to this end. Another nearly $1 billion will go toward preclinical and clinical evaluation, along with nearly $700 million for development and manufacturing through NIAID and BARDA. Additionally, up to $1.2 billion will be provided to create collaborative drug discovery groups, known as Antiviral Drug Discovery (AViDD) Centers for Pathogens of Pandemic Concern. These will focus on platforms to target coronaviruses initially, then potentially expand to addressing other viral threats.
“This plan builds on the long, successful partnership between BARDA and NIH to develop vaccines, therapeutics, and diagnostics, from combatting Ebola, anthrax, and smallpox, to now tackling COVID-19,” BARDA Director Gary Disbrow said. “Throughout this public health emergency, we have worked with industry to develop treatments to reduce severe illness, hospitalizations, and deaths, and this proposal will help us go even further to accelerate and deliver more safe and effective treatments that are easy to administer.”