Three Oxford research projects have been awarded significant funding to develop anti-viral therapies.

Three research projects focusing on protection against respiratory viruses, led by the University of Oxford, have secured funding through the UK’s Advanced Research and Invention Agency (ARIA). 

As part of ARIA’s £57 million Sustained Viral Resilience programme, 11 funded teams will, via the three projects, explore how to create sustained innate immunoprophylactics, known as SIIPs. These are a new class of medicines that provide durable, broad-spectrum protection against respiratory viruses by engineering the immune system. 

One, the iGATE project, aims to develop a new class of smart DNA medicines based on programmable synthetic biosensors. The biosensors are designed to remain inactive in healthy tissue but switch on when responding to viral infection. The approach involves engineering compact gene “circuits” that can detect molecular signs of infection and activate targeted antiviral defences. It will combine synthetic biology with artificial intelligence (AI) and aims to ultimately reduce the risk of severe disease and hospitalisation.

Diverse viruses

The second project will focus on harnessing MDA5, a key sensor in the innate immune system, to develop new prophylactic treatments that could protect against many respiratory viruses.

Its approach will be tested across cell models, human airway organoids and animal systems, against viruses such as flu, SARS-CoV-2 responsible for Covid-19 and respiratory syncytial virus, in a bid to create a treatment that, after just one administration, could provide sustained protection against multiple respiratory viruses.

“By coupling this innate signalling pathway with cutting-edge synthetic biology and delivery engineering, we aim to build a prophylactic that we hope to be effective not just against known viruses, but also against those yet to emerge,” commented Jan Rehwinkel, study lead and professor of innate immunology at Oxford’s MRC Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine. 

Finally, the MAGIC consortium (MAIT activation to Generate Immune Control) targets immune cells called Mucosal-associated invariant T (MAIT) cells. It aims to boost MAIT cells in humans using synthetic molecules, ultimately to provide longer-lasting protection against various serious infections.

Viruses are diverse in nature, ranging from mild to as devastating as the COVID-19 pandemic. They can devastate both individual health and global economies. 

All three projects will bring together collaboration from across the University of Oxford, touching on specialities including physiology, anatomy and genetics.