Oxeltis secures €800,000 grant to advance antiviral candidate for emerging tropical viruses
Ella Day | June 26, 2025 | News story | Medical Communications, Research and Development | Corporate, Defense Innovation Agency, National Research Agency, Oxeltis, RNA viruses, Virology, contract research organisation
Oxeltis, a French contract research organisation specialising in medicinal and organic chemistry, has announced that it will lead the BUNYANTIVIR project alongside prominent academic partners, having secured nearly €800,000 in funding from France’s National Research Agency and the Defense Innovation Agency. The three-year project aims to advance the preclinical development of a novel antiviral targeting Bunyaviricetes, a class of RNA viruses responsible for serious human diseases such as Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever and Lassa fever.
The BUNYANTIVIR project brings together the biological macromolecule architecture and function laboratory, the emerging viruses unit in Marseille and the biology of emerging viral infections unit at Lyon’s Institut Pasteur, all in France. Together, they will develop and optimise small molecule inhibitors against a key replication enzyme of Bunyaviricetes viruses, an underexplored target with significant therapeutic potential.
Oxeltis will scale up selected inhibitor candidates, while academic collaborators will contribute expertise in biochemistry, structural biology, virology and pharmacokinetics. Early research has already achieved promising high-affinity ligands showing in vitro efficacy in infected cells. The project aims to transition to in vivo testing within 18 to 24 months.
“This programme represents a novel therapeutic approach targeting viral replication in high-risk pathogens,” said Jean-Marc Allaire, CEO of Oxeltis. “Our combined strengths in chemistry and virology are key to unlocking effective solutions for these emerging threats.”
The project highlights a multidisciplinary approach to drug development for tropical and subtropical viral diseases.
Ella Day
26/6/25
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