Delayed Time-to-Treatment of an Antisense Morpholino Oligomer Is Effective against Lethal Marburg Virus Infection in Cynomolgus Macaques

PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 2016 Feb 22;10(2):e0004456. doi: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0004456. eCollection 2016 Feb.

Abstract

Marburg virus (MARV) is an Ebola-like virus in the family Filovirdae that causes sporadic outbreaks of severe hemorrhagic fever with a case fatality rate as high as 90%. AVI-7288, a positively charged antisense phosphorodiamidate morpholino oligomer (PMOplus) targeting the viral nucleoprotein gene, was evaluated as a potential therapeutic intervention for MARV infection following delayed treatment of 1, 24, 48, and 96 h post-infection (PI) in a nonhuman primate lethal challenge model. A total of 30 cynomolgus macaques were divided into 5 groups of 6 and infected with 1,830 plaque forming units of MARV subcutaneously. AVI-7288 was administered by bolus infusion daily for 14 days at 15 mg/kg body weight. Survival was the primary endpoint of the study. While none (0 of 6) of the saline group survived, 83-100% of infected monkeys survived when treatment was initiated 1, 24, 48, or 96 h post-infection (PI). The antisense treatment also reduced serum viremia and inflammatory cytokines in all treatment groups compared to vehicle controls. The antibody immune response to virus was preserved and tissue viral antigen was cleared in AVI-7288 treated animals. These data show that AVI-7288 protects NHPs against an otherwise lethal MARV infection when treatment is initiated up to 96 h PI.

Publication types

  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Disease Models, Animal*
  • Female
  • Genetic Therapy*
  • Humans
  • Macaca fascicularis* / virology
  • Male
  • Marburg Virus Disease / therapy*
  • Marburg Virus Disease / virology
  • Marburgvirus / genetics*
  • Marburgvirus / physiology
  • Morpholinos / administration & dosage*
  • Morpholinos / genetics
  • Morpholinos / metabolism
  • RNA, Antisense / genetics*
  • RNA, Antisense / metabolism
  • Time-to-Treatment

Substances

  • AVI-7288
  • Morpholinos
  • RNA, Antisense

Grants and funding

This work was conducted under a contract (W9113M-10-C-0056) with the Joint Product Management Office of BioDefense Therapeutics (BD-Tx). BD-Tx is a component of the Medical Countermeasure Systems Joint Project Management Office (JPM-MCS) within the U.S. Department of Defense’s Joint Program Executive Office for Chemical and Biological Defense. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.