The WHO R&D Blueprint: 2018 review of emerging infectious diseases requiring urgent research and development efforts

Analysis of research intensity on infectious disease by disease burden reveals which infectious diseases are neglected by researchers

“…Emerging infections, such as Zika fever and Ebola virus disease, do not yet cause significant DALYs worldwide, but nonetheless receive substantial research effort because of the public health risk posed by a future pandemic threat (21). Unfortunately, we did not analyze those diseases in this study because of the limited data on their disease burden.…”

Measures for diagnosing and treating infections by a novel coronavirus responsible for a pneumonia outbreak originating in Wuhan, China

“…At the present, no specific antiviral therapy has been approved for treatment of infection by human CoVs. As development of vaccines and compounds for prevention and treatment of infection have been brought to priority status by WHO and governments [56], numerous drug studies have been done or are moving forward. Some of them focus on the CoV fusion/entry process either by inhibition of S1 mediated virus attachment or by blocking of S2 mediated virus-cell membrane fusion, and some of them interfere with viral replication [57].…”

Nucleoside analogues for the treatment of coronavirus infections

“…Notably, no vaccines or antiviral compounds are approved for prevention or treatment of human or potential zoonotic CoVs. Emerging CoVs have been accorded priority status by WHO and government agencies for development of prevention and treatment strategies due to severity of these infections and credible pandemic potential [7][8][9]. This review will focus on opportunities for and challenges to development of antiviral nucleoside and nucleotide analogues targeting viral RNA synthesis as effective therapeutics against CoV infections.…”