Pharmaceutical Companies Are Reportedly Refocusing On Mysterious Rise In Shingles Infections As COVID Declines

Photo Credit: Photo by CDC & Klara Kulikova 

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Shingles infections have been steadily increasing in the United States over the past two decades, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The COVID-19 pandemic may be making matters worse because so many adults who are experiencing long COVID, have lower immunity and a high risk of developing shingles - an itchy, painful, often blistery rash that can occur and spread, particularly in the elderly. 

The existing antiviral treatments are largely ineffective at controlling the disease’s progression, and none of the existing antivirals used to treat shingles actually cure the infection, so new antivirals that can cure Shingles are needed.  

NanoViricides, Inc. has been Developing Antiviral Skin Cream For Shingles

NanoViricides Inc. (NYSE-AMERICAN: NNVC), a developmental stage biotech, reports that it had developed a lead drug candidate for shingles before the pandemic. This drug candidate has shown strong activity in human skin infection of Varicella-Zoster virus (VZV) in the laboratory, which means it is highly likely to show similar strong effectiveness in human clinical trials. NanoViricides has completed the investigational new drug application (IND) enabling studies for the antiviral skin cream and is preparing to submit its application to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for approval to begin human clinical trials soon, right after its applications for clinical trials of its COVID-19 drug are filed.

The pandemic shifted the pharmaceutical industry’s focus to the coronavirus and viral infectious diseases but COVID-19 is causing long term problems in many who have had the disease – called long COVID. A major root cause of long COVID is dysregulation of the immune system, according to experts. This gives a chance for viruses already in our body to cause new diseases. Shingles is one such disease. 

Shingles is caused by the Varicella-Zoster virus (VZV) that is acquired from chickenpox infection as a child. VZV remains dormant, hidden in our nerve cells. It can reactivate later in life, breaking out with itchy, painful rashes and blisters that can spread to cover large portions of the body in some people. Over time, the rash develops into dried, crusted, potentially scarring spots that give it its “shingles” name. 

COVID Isn’t Causing Shingles But May Make Situation Worse for Elderly

99.5% of adults born before 1980 were exposed to the chickenpox virus so there is a sizeable population of older adults who have the dormant virus that causes a shingles outbreak. 

While rates were increasing fastest among older adults even before long COVID, it’s hard to pinpoint the reason. It could be the result of a naturally weakening immune system with age or the result of the fact there are more older adults who have the dormant virus as time goes by. 

While there’s no evidence that COVID-19 or its vaccine can cause shingles, getting COVID can put you at risk of reactivating the dormant herpes zoster virus that causes shingles because your immune system will be fighting the new infection, giving dormant viruses a chance to strike.

Even before COVID-19 pandemic the CDC estimated that 1 out of 3 people nationwide would develop shingles at least once in their lifetime; some having multiple flare ups. 

The main treatments available for shingles are antiviral medicines like Zovirax, an antiviral manufactured by GlaxoSmithKline Plc GSK, or Famvir, manufactured by Novartis AG NVS. However, none of the existing antivirals used to treat shingles actually cure it. 

NanoViricides Unique Technology Platform Combats Many Viral Diseases beyond COVID and Shingles, Even Those That Mutate During Pandemics NanoViricides has been working on an antiviral platform that can be adapted to a wide range of viruses that is very different from the traditional antivirals approach. Using nanoparticles that look like normal human cells, the drug effectively tricks the viral particle to attach to it via the same binding sites that the virus uses to infect cells. Once attached, the nanoviricide engulfs the viral particle, which immediately stops it from infecting healthy cells, or reproducing, and then completely disables it.

The unique mechanism of action allows the nanoviricide drug to potentially treat a broad range of strains and variants because the binding site where it attaches is more or less the same across all the variant viruses and doesn’t change during mutation into new variants. Plus, the technology targets and kills the virus without relying on help from the patient’s immune system that is usually compromised when other diseases pre-exist.

This technology could therefore have significant implications not only for treating COVID and Shingles but also for other difficult-to-eradicate, mutating, infectious viral diseases that may occur in any future pandemic.

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