Challenges in development of antiviral drugs and vaccines

There are many health threats that need proper medication and treatment. The World Health Organization keeps track of incurable and emerging diseases that need medications. The major portion of diseases that do not have a cure are viral diseases. Viruses are obligate parasites and have a notorious nature, sudden outbreaks causing epidemics, that makes it necessary to have a fast and reliable cure against them. Viruses are difficult to track, to start with development of a cure through drug discovery. Drugs like antivirals, immunomodulators, etc. against viruses are a major challenges, since viruses spread quickly and mutate constantly. Even after identifying viral targets, to finalize a drug, the drug constituents have to go through a rigorous four step process facing certain challenges at every step. Vaccine development against viruses also has to go through some phases of developments and the vaccine hesitancy causes some social health challenges. © 2024 by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved, including those for text and data mining, AI training, and similar technologies.