Progress Towards Virus-Independent Treatment: NoVir Consortium Looks Back on a Successful First Project Year

In May 2025, the NoVir consortium, consisting of four European partners – the coordinating institution Ethris, the Technical University of Munich (TUM), Aarhus University, and EURICE – started their collaboration. Together, they defined their mission to further develop the self-administered and storable drug ETH47 that activates the body's innate immune system against multiple virus families. Just over one year later, NoVir has made strong progress in establishing the antiviral activity of ETH47 across preclinical models and translating these findings towards the clinic.

ETH47 Demonstrates Promising Efficacy in Activating the Innate Immune System

Part of the NoVir project is dedicated to defining the breadth of ETH47's antiviral effect. The conducted in vitro and ex vivo experiments confirmed its antiviral activity across a broad range of tested respiratory model systems and virus families: ETH47 enables respiratory cells to produce strong and sustained levels of the messenger protein interferon lambda. This effect is crucial for activating the body's coordinated antiviral defence system. Furthermore, these studies demonstrate that ETH47 supresses viral replication across different models. To characterise the dose, timing, and durability of the antiviral response in more detail, the NoVir team also extended these studies to include experiments in primary cell models.

Different Study Types to Evaluate the Therapeutic Potential of ETH47

Besides in vitro and ex vivo studies, the NoVir team also conducted in vivo studies to further investigate the effects of ETH47 on the progression of viral infections. The results provide proof of concept that the antiviral drug can reduce disease severity and improve survival in established animal models. These findings further support the potential of ETH47 as a locally acting antiviral candidate. In parallel, the research team was also performing clinical studies to evaluate the therapeutic potential of ETH47 during viral infections. A rhinovirus challenge study in at-risk patients is currently ongoing. The first results are expected in the second half of this year.

Spreading the Word: NoVir Showcased at Various Conferences

Initial project outcomes have already been presented at international conferences and published in scientific journals. Philipp Podschwadt (TUM) opened the year's conference activities by presenting the effects of IFNλ1 mRNA treatment on SARS-CoV-2 infection at the 35th Annual Meeting of the Society for Virology in Heidelberg (17–20 March). This was followed by a presentation by NoVir Coordinator Steffen Meyer (Ethris) at the Annual Conference of the German Society for Infectious Diseases and Tropical Medicine in Cologne (17–20 June). Line Reinert and Søren Riis Paludan (AU) showcased NoVir at two June events at Aarhus University: the first anniversary of the Bartholin Building and the CiViA Center meeting. In July, Carsten Rudolph (Ethris) presented high-level interim data from the project's clinical asthma challenge study at the mRNA-based Therapeutics Summit in Boston (22 July). Andreas Pichlmair (TUM) participated in the DZIF Site Meeting in Munich (21 July) and co-authored a paper on the antiviral properties of interferon-stimulated genes, published in Nature Communications this year.