JK-05 is a broad-spectrum

antiviral drug Antiviral drugs are a class of medication used for treating viral infections. Most antivirals target specific viruses, while a broad-spectrum antiviral is effective against a wide range of viruses. Unlike most antibiotics, antiviral drugs do n ...

developed by the

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of ...

company Sihuan Pharmaceutical along with the Chinese

Academy of Military Medical Sciences The Academy of Military Medical Sciences (AMMS) of the PLA Academy of Military Science () is a Chinese military medical research institute. It was established in Shanghai in 1951. It has been based in Beijing since 1958. In October 2011 the drug ...

. It is reported to act as an inhibitor of the viral enzyme

RNA polymerase In molecular biology, RNA polymerase (abbreviated RNAP or RNApol), or more specifically DNA-directed/dependent RNA polymerase (DdRP), is an enzyme that synthesizes RNA from a DNA template. Using the enzyme helicase, RNAP locally opens the ...

which is essential for viral replication. In tests on mice, JK-05 was claimed to show efficacy against a range of

RNA virus An RNA virus is a virusother than a retrovirusthat has ribonucleic acid (RNA) as its genetic material. The nucleic acid is usually single-stranded RNA ( ssRNA) but it may be double-stranded (dsRNA). Notable human diseases caused by RNA viruses ...

es, including

influenza Influenza, commonly known as "the flu", is an infectious disease caused by influenza viruses. Symptoms range from mild to severe and often include fever, runny nose, sore throat, muscle pain, headache, coughing, and fatigue. These symptoms ...

Ebola virus ''Zaire ebolavirus'', more commonly known as Ebola virus (; EBOV), is one of six known species within the genus ''Ebolavirus''. Four of the six known ebolaviruses, including EBOV, cause a severe and often fatal hemorrhagic fever in humans and ot ...

and

yellow fever Yellow fever is a viral disease of typically short duration. In most cases, symptoms include fever, chills, loss of appetite, nausea, muscle pains – particularly in the back – and headaches. Symptoms typically improve within five days. In ...

, as well as several

arenavirus An arenavirus is a bisegmented ambisense RNA virus that is a member of the family ''Arenaviridae''. These viruses infect rodents and occasionally humans. A class of novel, highly divergent arenaviruses, properly known as reptarenaviruses, have ...

es and

bunyavirus ''Bunyavirales'' is an order of segmented negative-strand RNA viruses with mainly tripartite genomes. Member viruses infect arthropods, plants, protozoans, and vertebrates. It is the only order in the class ''Ellioviricetes''. The name ''Bunyavir ...

es. The

chemical structure A chemical structure determination includes a chemist's specifying the molecular geometry and, when feasible and necessary, the electronic structure of the target molecule or other solid. Molecular geometry refers to the spatial arrangement of at ...

of JK-05 has not been disclosed as of October 2014, but it is claimed to be a

small molecule Within the fields of molecular biology and pharmacology, a small molecule or micromolecule is a low molecular weight (≤ 1000 daltons) organic compound that may regulate a biological process, with a size on the order of 1 nm. Many drugs ar ...

drug with a comparatively simple structure, which should be readily amenable to synthesis scale-up for mass production if testing is successful. The drug is however admitted to be similar to the Japanese anti-influenza drug

favipiravir Favipiravir, sold under the brand name Avigan among others, is an antiviral medication used to treat influenza in Japan. It is also being studied to treat a number of other viral infections, including SARS-CoV-2. Like the experimental antiviral ...

, developed by

Fujifilm , trading as Fujifilm, or simply Fuji, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, operating in the realms of photography, optics, office and medical electronics, biotechnology, and chemicals. The offerings from th ...

Holdings Corp, which has been used effectively to treat patients with Ebola. In addition, WHO committee members mentioned that the drug is a copy product of favipiravir, because patents of favipiravir were already registered in 2006 in China. The drug has been given preliminary approval by the Chinese authorities to be available for Chinese health workers involved in combating the 2014 West African Ebola outbreak, or if Ebola were to spread into mainland China. Several other Chinese developed antiviral drugs with anti-Ebola activity have also been disclosed, but have not progressed so far through development as JK-05.

References

Antiviral drugs Ebola Experimental drugs {{antiinfective-drug-stub

See also

References