OyaGen, Inc. Developing Compound with Broad Antiviral Activity Against Coronaviruses

OyaGen, Inc.’s (Rochester, NY, USA) collaborative research with the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (Fort Detrick, MD, USA) has suggested strong dose-dependent antiviral activity of its lead compound OYA1 against live SARS-CoV-2, the causative agent for COVID-19, based on in cell culture infectivity studies.

OyaGen is focused on the identification and early development of novel therapeutics for the treatment of viral diseases including HIV, coronavirus and Ebola. OYA1 has broad-spectrum antiviral activity in laboratory-based assays against the coronaviruses SARS-CoV-2 and MERS-CoV and also is a dual target-specific antiviral against filoviruses such as Ebola virus. OYA1 was strongly more effective than a positive-control compound, chlorpromazine HCl, at inhibiting SARS-CoV-2 from replicating in cell culture.


OYA1 had prior FDA approval as an investigational new drug for treating cancer in the 1960s but was abandoned for a lack of efficacy. Studies at that time demonstrated safety in non-human primates and human adults when dosed daily or weekly. Side effects can include cardiac toxicity in children when dosed every day. Side effects may be due to the slow metabolic turnover of OYA1 as demonstrated in earlier studies in mice, which suggested the compound may persist in tissues for greater than 12 days following a single dose, especially in heart tissue where cell turnover is low. However, its long half-life in tissues suggests that a single dose or weekly dosing may be sufficient for antiviral treatments.

OyaGen will conduct further studies for the safety and efficacy of OYA1 in treating COVID-19 as necessary for regulatory approval. The company anticipates that inhibition of SARS-CoV-2 using OYA1 will serve as a stop-gap treatment until appropriate vaccines are developed. OYA1 could also prove timely in addressing the need for combination therapy for SARS-CoV-2 to avoid the emergence of drug-resistant virus.

Related Links:
OyaGen, Inc.
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases