Highlights of the 30th International Conference on Antiviral Research

Abstract

The 30th International Conference on Antiviral Research (ICAR) was held in Atlanta, GA, USA from May 18 to 21, 2017. This report provides an account of award lectures, invited keynote addresses and oral presentations during the meeting. The 2017 Gertrude Elion Memorial Lecture Award by Michael Sofia highlighted one of the most important accomplishments in recent drug discovery in antiviral research, the identification of the hepatitis C virus direct-acting antiviral sofosbuvir and new alternatives to combat hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection. The Antonín Holý Lecture Award by David Chu on medicinal chemistry provided an overview of early developments of nucleoside analogs for the treatment of HIV and varicella zoster virus infection and how this knowledge serves to develop new drugs targeting HBV. Priscilla Yang gave the first ISAR Women in Science lecture. She reported on pharmacological validation of new antiviral targets for dengue, Zika and other flaviviruses. The William Prusoff Young Investigator Lecture Award by Maaike Everts described the Alabama Drug Discovery Alliance and the Antiviral Drug Discovery and Development Consortium, and how they are helping to accelerate the development of new antivirals. The 30th ICAR was a success in promoting new discoveries in antiviral drug development and research. The 31st ICAR will be held in Porto, Portugal, June 11-15, 2018.

Design and Synthesis of Novel HIV-1 NNRTIs with Bicyclic Cores and with Improved Physicochemical Properties

“…The volatiles were evaporated, and the residue was purified by flash chromatography (120 g SiO 2 , 0−20% cyclohexane/ EtOAc) to give amine 25 (3.29 g, 88.4%) as a yellow waxy solid. [4,5-b] [1,4]diazepin-2-yl]amino}benzonitrile (42). From alcohol 39 (50 mg, 0.12 mmol), according to Method F. afforded aldehyde 42 (37 mg, 74%) as a white solid.…”

Meeting report: 32nd International Conference on Antiviral Research

“…As in previous years, the 32nd ICAR provided a most collegiate environment in which the most recent advances in antiviral research and development, as well as historical perspectives and current situation analyses of the worldwide landscape of viral disease and therapy, were presented and discussed. As in previous years (Andrei et al, 2017;Bray et al, 2018;Vere Hodge, 2013;2014, the following pages provide an overview of the meeting, The ISAR awards were again one of the highlights of the meeting. This year, ISAR bestowed the fourth-ever Award for Outstanding Contributions to the Society to Mark Prichard, who has since passed away.…”

Meeting report: 31st International Conference on Antiviral Research

“…The 31 st ICAR was held at the Alfândega Conference Center in Porto, Portugal, from June 11-15, 2018. As in previous years (Andrei et al, 2017;Vere Hodge, 2013, 2017, the meeting provided an interdisciplinary forum at which investigators involved in basic, translational, and clinical research worldwide met to review recent developments in all areas of antiviral research, drug and vaccine development. The overarching goal of the conference is to drive the discovery of new antiviral therapies by fostering collaboration among scientists from the fields of basic virology, medicinal chemistry, pharmacology, animal models of disease and toxicology in academia and the pharmaceutical industry.…”