Researchers at Georgia State University have developed an experimental oral antiviral that prevented a measles-like virus from spreading between ferrets both through close contact and through the air. The treatment also reduced symptoms when given shortly before or shortly after exposure.
The findings, published in nature microbiologyThey come from scientists at the Center for Translational Antiviral Research (CTAR). His work focused on the canine distemper virus, which causes a disease in ferrets that closely resembles measles.
An antiviral blocks two transmission routes
The researchers tested a recently developed drug candidate called GHP-88310 (described in Science Advances). The drug is a broad-spectrum inhibitor of viral polymerase, an enzyme the virus needs to reproduce.
The team examined whether prophylactic use (shortly before or after exposure) of the drug could prevent transmission through direct contact or shared air. GHP-88310 successfully blocked both forms of propagation. When the drug was used to treat animals that were already infected, it also reduced the time they remained able to transmit the virus.
“Quickly silencing measles outbreaks is essential to restoring control over the virus,” said senior author Richard Plemper, Regents Professor and director of the CTAR. “This study follows our recent development of the drug candidate GHP-88310. It demonstrates that the drug is suitable for augmenting traditional measles ring vaccination.”
Measles outbreaks return in North America
Measles has reemerged in the United States since 2025, causing thousands of infections in several states, hundreds of hospitalizations and three confirmed deaths. Canada and Mexico have also experienced major outbreaks involving multiple deaths, raising concerns about whether North America will be able to maintain its measles elimination status.
“We were very excited to see that orally administered GHP-88310 completely prevented airborne transmission in our ferret measles model,” said first author Carolin Lieber, a senior postdoctoral fellow in the Plemper lab. “This finding is unprecedented for a viral polymerase inhibitor and demonstrates the extraordinary antiviral potency of this drug.”
Tests of imitated homes and classrooms
To model realistic transmission conditions, the researchers created a controlled system in which infected and uninfected animals came into direct physical contact or shared the same airspace without touching each other.
“We designed the study to recapitulate viral spread between people with direct contact, for example in a home, and between more distant social contacts, for example in classrooms or other indoor environments that bring people together without direct interaction,” Plemper said. “In addition to this prophylactic benefit, GHP-88310 used therapeutically shortened the duration of illness in our model. If equally applied to human hosts, it may shorten the severe social and economic burden of prolonged patient quarantine and further aid outbreak management.”
Drug candidate advances toward clinical testing
The researchers are now preparing GHP-88310 for formal clinical trials.
Other contributors to the study were Josef Wolf, Claire Ruckel and Lauren Harrison of the Translational Antiviral Research Center at the Georgia State Institute of Biomedical Sciences.
The research was supported by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).