Cocrystal Pharma Inc. has reported the discovery of direct-acting antivirals that demonstrate pan-viral activity against multiple viruses, including hantavirus, bunyavirus and influenza. These compounds target a highly conserved region of the viral replication enzyme – the L-protein of Andes virus, which is essential for viral replication and transcription.

Although influenza virus infection can be particularly life-threatening among young infants, approved vaccines are lacking for infants under 6 months. Aiming to overcome the required annual updates to the influenza vaccine, recent efforts have focused on generating vaccines that promote broadly reactive antibodies (Abs) targeting conserved regions of viral proteins, such as the stem domain of hemagglutinin (HA).

It is not surprising that a large Ebola outbreak would be considered a public health emergency of international concern. But the current PHEIC is notable for the speed with which it was declared, speaking to the urgency of the situation. World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus declared the outbreak a PHEIC on Sunday, May 17, without first convening an emergency committee. That step is unprecedented.

Maxwell Biosciences Inc. has reported findings from a study showing that its broad-spectrum small molecules, named Claromers, are able to destroy Epstein-Barr virus. Claromers destroy pathogenic bacteria, viruses, fungi and biofilms, without harming healthy cells or the microbiome.

On Sunday, May 17th, 2026, the World Health Organization classified the ongoing Bundibugyo ebolavirus outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) as a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC). The rapid escalation to PHEIC is due to several factors. Given the high number of cases, the outbreak has likely been going undetected for some time, and may be a “much larger outbreak than what is currently being detected and reported, with significant local and regional risk of spread,” according to the WHO statement. The outbreak appears to already have crossed the border from the DRC into Uganda at least twice. And all this is happening with a virus for which there are no approved treatments or vaccines.

The threat posed by the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo has intensified, with the confirmation that it is caused by the Bundibugyo species of the virus, for which there are no approved vaccines or antiviral therapies. At the same time, the high positivity rate, with eight laboratory confirmed cases out of 13 samples collected in various areas, and more reports of suspected cases and clusters of deaths, all point to a potentially much larger outbreak than currently is being detected and reported.

Directed evolution has become a central pillar in gene therapy. This engineering strategy enables the generation of more efficient variants of genetic editors and delivery vectors. Molecular diversification methods are increasingly sophisticated and are now accelerated by machine learning and AI tools, as showcased at the 29th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Gene and Cell Therapy (ASGCT) held in Boston this week.

The initial appraisal of the first complete genome sequence of a hantavirus isolated from a patient in Switzerland who was a passenger on the cruise ship MV Hondius is consistent with a spillover from its natural reservoir, rather than the emergence of a markedly altered virus.

Infex Therapeutics Ltd. has secured £4.3 million (US$5 million) to support the continued advancement of the company’s pipeline of novel anti-infectives targeting antimicrobial resistance and other priority infectious diseases.

Fibrobiologics Inc. is expanding its fibroblast-based therapeutic platform to target hantavirus. The pathophysiology of hantavirus pulmonary syndrome involves uncontrolled inflammatory responses, endothelial barrier dysfunction and progressive pulmonary fibrosis, mechanisms that Fibrobiologics’ fibroblast platform is specifically designed to modulate.