FPU2025 - Salicylamide derivatives of niclosamide for use as broad-spectrum antiviral agent

PROJECT DESCRIPTION There is an urgent need to develop new families of broad-spectrum antiviral drugs able to block virus infection and dissemination by targeting host factors, which would increase their spectrum of clinical utility while reducing the chances of viral resistance. In addition, the repurposing of drugs is gaining increasing interest as a more efficient, cheaper, and faster alternative to the generation of new antiviral therapies. An example of this is niclosamide, an anthelmintic drug approved by the health authorities that has been shown to have significant antiviral activity in vitro against a wide variety of viruses including SARS-CoV-2, IV, CHIKV, WNV, DENV, VACV, CMV, and HAdV, which also support a potential host target. However, the poor aqueous solubility of niclosamide, as well as its low oral bioavailability and moderate cytotoxicity, pose important limitations that must be addressed before it can be used in clinic as a broad-spectrum antiviral agent.