Evaluation of Antiviral Drug Candidates against Measles in NHPs

A revised review is needed due to an increase of the contract action value. The NIAID Division of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (DMID) supports early phase development of medical countermeasures (MCMs) against viral infections of importance to human health. To demonstrate proof of concept efficacy, several animal models can be employed, but non-human primates (NHPs) develop disease most similar to what is seen in humans. As a consequence, they are the best predictor of efficacy in humans. There are current needs for NHP models for Measles (MeV) virus and testing of MCMs for efficacy against this pathogen is a high priority. NHPs are indispensable models for evaluating MCMs against infectious diseases and are considered the gold standard animal model for modeling some human infectious diseases. The lack of suitable substitutes for NHP models for predicting response in humans serves as a bottleneck for the development of countermeasures against infectious diseases. For MeV, NHPs offer a particularly valuable and relevant animal model for testing candidates since experimentally infected animals develop pathology and immune responses (including immune suppression/loss of memory immune responses) like human infection and thus provides the most direct path to assessing clinical utility. One of the consequences following infection with MeV is the suppression of immune responses against non-MeV antigens. This immunosuppression leaves those infected particularly susceptible to infections from pathogens they've previously been immunized against or new pathogens. Further, some individuals opt not to get vaccinated against MeV. For these reasons, along with a lack of available options for effective treatment against MeV, represents a bone fide need for new and effective treatment options against MeV. Finally, evaluating therapeutics against MeV is a high priority for several DMID branches.