Accelerating antiviral drug discovery: early hazard detection with a dual zebrafish and cell culture screen of a 403 compound library.

ABSTRACT: The constant emergence of new viral pathogens underscores the need for continually evolving, effective antiviral drugs. A key challenge is identifying compounds that are both efficacious and safe, as many candidates fail during development due to unforeseen toxicity. To address this, the embryonic zebrafish morphology, mortality, and behavior (ZBE) screen and the SYSTEMETRIC® Cell Health Screen (CHS) were employed to evaluate the safety of 403 compounds from the Cayman Antiviral Screening Library. Of these compounds, 114 were FDA-approved, 17 were discontinued, and 97 remained on the market. CHS identified 25% (104 compounds) as toxic, with a Cell Health Index™ (CHI) > 0.5. The embryonic zebrafish model identified an additional 20% as toxic (79), bringing the total to 183. ZBEscreen flagge

SUBMITTER: Truong L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11821682 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature