molecules of the month

The Janssen pan-genotype, pan-serotype dengue virus inhibitor, JNJ-A07, demonstrates broad activity against a panel of 21 clinical isolates and has a high barrier to resistance. It blocks the interaction between the non-enzymatic NS4B protein and NS3, preventing them from forming an NS3-NS4B complex which is essential for replication (though it does not appear to dissociate formed NS3-NS4B complexes). The mechanism is another recent success for phenotypic screening and if developed, this class of molecules could be a significant tool against dengue disease, which affects >96M individuals worldwide.