Viral infections affect millions of people every year and cause tremendous human suffering and costs to society. For approximately 70% of all WHO listed viruses, no treatment is available and the antiviral drugs that do exist must be applied very early after infection to be effective. The COVID-19 pandemic was only one such example.

Over the last 4 years, the multidisciplinary VIROFIGHT consortium has made significant strides in elaborating novel approaches and solutions to fight viral infections, leveraging cutting-edge technologies and research methodologies to address the lack of broadly applicable antiviral treatments, and to create means for combating emerging pathogens. The goal is to create prototypes of nano-shells that can neutralize any virus based on two scientific breakthroughs; the ability to produce specific virus-binding molecules through in vitro selection, and the ability to create synthetic virus-sized nanoparticles that can engulf viruses specifically.

The EIC- funded (former Fet-OPEN) VIROFIGHT will be completed by end of November and we as a consortium would like to take the chance discussing the groundbreaking achievements and results of the VIROFIGHT project, highlighting its impact on antiviral biologics and potential new treatment approaches. Our findings hopefully will accelerate antiviral drug development and helps to be prepared for a possible next pandemic.

Maartje Bastings is a biomaterials engineer, who studied biomedical engineering and supramolecular chemistry with Bert (E.W.) Meijer at the Technische Universiteit Eindhoven, The Netherlands. During her training she undertook research internships in polymer synthesis and self-assembly with Craig J. Hawker at the Materials Research Laboratory of the University of California, Santa Barbara and structural protein engineering with David A. Tirrell at the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena. Her PhD thesis on “Dynamic Reciprocity in Bio-Inspired Supramolecular Materials” received the University Academic Award for best thesis in 2013. Following a 4-year postdoc position in DNA Nanotechnology with William M. Shih at Harvard University / Wyss Institute in Boston, she started as Tenure Track Assistant Professor at EPFL, leading the Programmable Biomaterials Laboratory (PBL) in 2017. Her lab uses the super-selectivity concept to engineer multivalent materials with remarkable (bio)activity profiles. Dr. Bastings published over 30 peer reviewed articles and received numerous awards, including the HFSP young investigators grant, ERC starting grant, SNF Eccellenza grant, and Volkswagen Foundation “LIFE” award.

Rainer Haag, is Professor of Organic and Macromolecular Chemistry at Freie Universität Berlin. Since 2021, he is spokesperson of the Collaborative Research Center 1449 “Dynamic Hydrogels at Biological Interfaces” and the research facility “SupraFAB”. His research focuses on biodegradable and multivalent macromolecules, supramolecular architectures, nanotransporters for drug delivery, and sustainable polymer syntheses. In start-up-oriented teaching, he won the 2014 teaching award at Freie Universität Berlin with his project “Translation of Project Ideas.” Together with the company Dendropharm, he received the Innovation Award Berlin-Brandenburg in 2016. Since 2019, he has been an elected member of the German Academy of Science and Engineering (acatech). In 2022, he was awarded the ERC Advanced Grant. His scientific achievements are documented by >630 peer-reviewed publications and 45 patent applications. For more information see the group homepage: www.polytree.de.

Dr. Alba Monferrer. At CPTx, we develop new treatment paradigms across unmet medical challenges, with an initial focus on infectious diseases. The flexibility and precision of CPTx’s platform support multivalent drug development, which is crucial for addressing complex disease states involving multiple binding sites, such as viruses, cancer, and autoimmune diseases.

Prof. Hendrik Dietz is a renowned physicist and leader in the field of DNA nanotechnology. Dietz studied physics and obtained his PhD in Munich, Germany, worked as a researcher at Dana Farber Cancer Institute at Harvard Medical School, and then became in 2009 professor at TU Munich. He moved through the ranks to full professor and leads the TUM Laboratory for Molecular Robotics.

Through his research, Dietz has made key contributions to the construction of complex nanostructures, revolutionizing the synthesis of DNA structures and materials through faster, more efficient, and cost-effective methods. This work has paved the way for the industrial use of synthetic DNA objects. Dietz has also explored and developed numerous applications of DNA nanotechnology, including cancer immunotherapy and antiviral treatments, using state-of-the-art cryo-electron microscopy and, more recently, AI-assisted protein designs.

Dietz has received numerous scientific awards, including the Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize, the highest German scientific award, and all three individual researcher awards from the European Research Council (ERC Starting Grant, ERC Consolidator Grant, ERC Advanced Grant). In addition to his academic activities, Dietz is also an entrepreneur seeking to translate his research results into commercial products.