Measles is Likely to Become Endemic - NanoViricides Is Testing a Drug to Combat It

Rhea-AI Summary

NanoViricides announces progress in developing a potential treatment for measles as the disease threatens to become endemic in the USA. The company's drug candidate NV-387, a broad-spectrum antiviral, shows promise in targeting measles and related viruses like RSV.

Key developments:

• Stanford scientists predict measles becoming endemic due to declining vaccination rates
• 884 confirmed measles cases reported across 30 jurisdictions as of April 24, 2025
• 11% hospitalization rate with 3 fatalities
• NV-387 completed Phase I trials with no adverse events
• Company acquired measles virus and plans animal model studies

The company highlights vaccination challenges, including public trust issues post-COVID-19 and increasing population segments ineligible for vaccines. NV-387's mechanism mimics HSPG to act as a viral decoy, potentially effective against multiple viruses including measles, RSV, influenza, and COVID-19.

Positive

• NV-387 completed Phase I clinical trial with no adverse events reported, demonstrating safety and tolerability
• NV-387 showed superior effectiveness compared to approved drugs against Influenza, COVID-19, RSV, and MPox in animal models
• Company has successfully acquired and grown Measles virus for animal model study
• NV-387 has potential dual-market application for both RSV and Measles, where no current drugs exist
• Company owns BSL2 Virology laboratory for in-house research capabilities

Negative

• No exact date projected for IND filing due to dependence on external collaborators
• Company requires substantial capital for drug development pathway
• Business model relies heavily on licensing technology from TheraCour Pharma
• No guarantee of successful clinical trials or pharmaceutical product development
• Current research findings do not indicate FDA evaluation of safety or effectiveness

SHELTON, CT / ACCESS Newswire / April 29, 2025 / NanoViricides, Inc., a publicly traded company (NYSE Amer.:NNVC) (the "Company"), and a leading global pioneer in the development of broad-spectrum antivirals based on host-mimetic nanomedicine technology that viruses cannot escape, provides further details on its Measles drug development program herewith.

Measles is likely to become endemic in the USA, according to modeling conducted by Stanford scientists (https://med.stanford.edu/news/all-news/2025/04/measles-vaccination.html). The model primarily bases this conclusion on the declining rates of measles vaccination in the USA, especially since the COVID-19 pandemic. If the vaccination rates continue to decline, measles virus could become endemic, that is circulating in the population, within a few years.

To date, only effective drugs have brought or maintained endemic or circulating viruses under control. There are no vaccines for herpes viruses, HIV or hepatitis C virus. Yet, successful drugs have helped patients to be cured (HCV), or recover from episodes (HSV), or at least maintain healthy lifespan (HIV) without any vaccines.

"We believe we already have a drug that is very likely to be effective against measles virus," said Anil R. Diwan, PhD, President and Executive Chairman of the Company, explaining, "NV-387 is a first-ever broad-spectrum antiviral that is capable of attacking over 90-95% of human pathogenic viruses; and that includes paramyxoviruses such as RSV and Measles virus."

"We have acquired the Measles virus and we have now completed growing the virus in the small quantities required for conducting an animal model study," added Dr. Diwan, "We can now determine how effective NV-387 would be against the Measles virus. We are highly enthused to perform this study by the fact that NV-387 was able to cure lethal lung infection by the related RSV in an animal model. There is currently no drug for RSV or for Measles, and NV-387 could work against both viruses!"

The Company has its own BSL2 Virology laboratory where the measles virus purchased from a standard biologics source was propagated in cell cultures. The Company has planned an animal model study in humanized hCD150 (h-SLAP) mice that are uniquely susceptible to Measles virus infection. The study protocol has been submitted to the IACUC for approval. The Company will be able to conduct the study after the specialized animals can be obtained, which may take a few weeks.

Although there is a successful vaccine for measles, there are several reasons why vaccination rates are declining. First and foremost is the fear of side effects. Even if the side effects are uncommon, what parents would want their child to become part of the unfortunate statistic? Secondly, there is a lack of public trust fomented by the aggressive and dogmatic behavior of agencies pushing compulsory vaccination without regard to the condition of the individual; policies that reached a crescendo during the COVID-19 pandemic. In fact, during this pandemic, the misinformation and inaccurate science propagated by scientists in charge has been utterly unscientific and irrational, leading to a major loss of public trust that would not be readily reversed. Thirdly, there is a wish-wash effort at collecting side effects data upon vaccination that is based on "voluntary" submissions wherein physicians casually refuse to document and submit any side effects observed by the child's parents unless a strict causality of the vaccine can be demonstrated - a practically impossible bar, given the time lag between the vaccination and potential side effects which can be even many months for a live attenuated virus vaccine such as Measles.

Most importantly, there is genuinely a large and increasing proportion of population that is not eligible for vaccination or that would not respond to vaccines due to immune system problems ranging from allergies to frank immune-compromise; problems that are correlated with the increasing rates of chronic diseases such as diabetes, obesity, and neurological syndromes.

Thus, maintaining a population vaccination rate of 95% that is required for herd immunity for Measles virus is becoming an unattainable task. The vaccine, when introduced was considered to have a 97% protection rate. However, that was 1968, and no matter how slowly measles virus is evolving, it is not static, and the evolution would be expected to be driving towards vaccine escape.

Thus, development of an antiviral drug against Measles must become a top priority if the Measles virus is to be kept under control.

"A drug for measles is at present a completely missing link in the response to measles virus outbreak," said Anil R. Diwan, Ph.D., President & Executive Chairman of the Company, declaring, "Viral spread cannot be contained without an effective drug to minimize illness and stop the virus transmission from the patients."

NanoViricides already has a clinical stage broad-spectrum antiviral drug NV-387 that may be effective for treating Measles infection. NV-387 was found to cure lethal RSV infection in an animal model. Measles virus is related to RSV, and both use the heparan sulfate proteoglycan (HSPG) for infection. NV-387 mimics HSPG, presents itself as a decoy to the virus, and is capable of destroying the virus particle thereby stalling the continuous infection and spread of virus in the body. This provides strong rationale for use of NV-387 to combat Measles virus.

NV-387 has already completed a Phase I human clinical trial with no reported adverse events, indicating excellent safety and tolerability. Additionally, NV-387 was found to be substantially more effective than approved drugs (where available) against Influenza, COVID-19, RSV, and MPox in relevant animal models. These four unrelated viruses have in common the fact that they all use HSPG for infection.

Measles cases in the USA have continued to rise this year, and the number of jurisdictions has continued to expand. As of April 24, 2025, a total of 884 confirmed measles cases were reported by 30 jurisdictions, an increase of 24% in cases and 50% in the number of jurisdictions since just two weeks ago, indicating a continuing and expanding outbreak. Hospitalization rate remains at 11%, and fatalities remain limited at 3. At least 3% of confirmed cases in 2025 were in known vaccinated persons. (https://www.cdc.gov/measles/data-research/index.html).

As discussed in prior press releases, NV-387 is expected to remain an effective treatment even as viruses mutate.

ABOUT NANOVIRICIDES

NanoViricides, Inc. (the "Company") (www.nanoviricides.com) is a publicly traded (NYSE-American, stock symbol NNVC) clinical stage company that is creating special purpose nanomaterials for antiviral therapy. The Company's novel nanoviricide™ class of drug candidates and the nanoviricide™ technology are based on intellectual property, technology and proprietary know-how of TheraCour Pharma, Inc. The Company has a Memorandum of Understanding with TheraCour for the development of drugs based on these technologies for all antiviral infections. The MoU does not include cancer and similar diseases that may have viral origin but require different kinds of treatments.

The Company has obtained broad, exclusive, sub-licensable, field licenses to drugs developed in several licensed fields from TheraCour Pharma, Inc. The Company's business model is based on licensing technology from TheraCour Pharma Inc. for specific application verticals of specific viruses, as established at its foundation in 2005.

Our lead drug candidate is NV-387, a broad-spectrum antiviral drug that we plan to develop as a treatment of RSV, COVID, Long COVID, Influenza, and other respiratory viral infections, as well as MPOX/Smallpox infections. Our other advanced drug candidate is NV-HHV-1 for the treatment of Shingles. The Company cannot project an exact date for filing an IND for any of its drugs because of dependence on a number of external collaborators and consultants. The Company is currently focused on advancing NV-387 into Phase II human clinical trials.

The Company is also developing drugs against a number of viral diseases including oral and genital Herpes, viral diseases of the eye including EKC and herpes keratitis, H1N1 swine flu, H5N1 bird flu, seasonal Influenza, HIV, Hepatitis C, Rabies, Dengue fever, and Ebola virus, among others. NanoViricides' platform technology and programs are based on the TheraCour® nanomedicine technology of TheraCour, which TheraCour licenses from AllExcel. NanoViricides holds a worldwide exclusive perpetual license to this technology for several drugs with specific targeting mechanisms in perpetuity for the treatment of the following human viral diseases: Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV/AIDS), Hepatitis B Virus (HBV), Hepatitis C Virus (HCV), Rabies, Herpes Simplex Virus (HSV-1 and HSV-2), Varicella-Zoster Virus (VZV), Influenza and Asian Bird Flu Virus, Dengue viruses, Japanese Encephalitis virus, West Nile Virus, Ebola/Marburg viruses, and certain Coronaviruses. The Company intends to obtain a license for RSV, Poxviruses, and/or Enteroviruses if the initial research is successful. As is customary, the Company must state the risk factor that the path to typical drug development of any pharmaceutical product is extremely lengthy and requires substantial capital. As with any drug development efforts by any company, there can be no assurance at this time that any of the Company's pharmaceutical candidates would show sufficient effectiveness and safety for human clinical development. Further, there can be no assurance at this time that successful results against coronavirus in our lab will lead to successful clinical trials or a successful pharmaceutical product.

This press release contains forward-looking statements that reflect the Company's current expectation regarding future events. Actual events could differ materially and substantially from those projected herein and depend on a number of factors. Certain statements in this release, and other written or oral statements made by NanoViricides, Inc. are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. You should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements since they involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which are, in some cases, beyond the Company's control and which could, and likely will, materially affect actual results, levels of activity, performance or achievements. The Company assumes no obligation to publicly update or revise these forward-looking statements for any reason, or to update the reasons actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements, even if new information becomes available in the future. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the company's expectations include, but are not limited to, those factors that are disclosed under the heading "Risk Factors" and elsewhere in documents filed by the company from time to time with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission and other regulatory authorities. Although it is not possible to predict or identify all such factors, they may include the following: demonstration and proof of principle in preclinical trials that a nanoviricide is safe and effective; successful development of our product candidates; our ability to seek and obtain regulatory approvals, including with respect to the indications we are seeking; the successful commercialization of our product candidates; and market acceptance of our products.

The phrases "safety", "effectiveness" and equivalent phrases as used in this press release refer to research findings including clinical trials as the customary research usage and do not indicate evaluation of safety or effectiveness by the US FDA.

FDA refers to US Food and Drug Administration. IND application refers to "Investigational New Drug" application. cGMP refers to current Good Manufacturing Practices. CMC refers to "Chemistry, Manufacture, and Controls". CHMP refers to the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use, which is the European Medicines Agency's (EMA) committee responsible for human medicines. API stands for "Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient". WHO is the World Health Organization. R&D refers to Research and Development.

Contact:
NanoViricides, Inc.
info@nanoviricides.com

Public Relations Contact:
ir@nanoviricides.com

SOURCE: NanoViricides, Inc.

View the original press release on ACCESS Newswire

FAQ

What is NanoViricides (NNVC) developing to combat endemic measles in 2025?

NanoViricides is testing NV-387, a broad-spectrum antiviral drug that could potentially treat measles. The drug has already completed Phase I clinical trials with no reported adverse events and has shown effectiveness against related viruses like RSV.

How many measles cases were reported in the USA as of April 24, 2025?

As of April 24, 2025, there were 884 confirmed measles cases reported across 30 jurisdictions in the USA, with an 11% hospitalization rate and 3 fatalities. Cases increased 24% in just two weeks.

Why is NanoViricides NV-387 drug significant for measles treatment?

NV-387 is significant because it's a first-ever broad-spectrum antiviral capable of attacking 90-95% of human pathogenic viruses, including measles. It has shown success in curing lethal RSV infection in animal models and could work against both RSV and measles.

What stage of development is NNVC's measles treatment in 2025?

NNVC has acquired the measles virus and completed initial virus growth for animal model studies. The company has planned testing in humanized hCD150 mice and submitted the study protocol for IACUC approval.

How does NanoViricides' NV-387 work against viruses?

NV-387 works by mimicking heparan sulfate proteoglycan (HSPG), presenting itself as a decoy to the virus. It can destroy virus particles, stopping continuous infection and viral spread in the body.