Tecovirimat is highly efficient on the Monkeypox virus lineage responsible for the international 2022 outbreak

Gaëlle Frenois-Veyrat (1) , Franck Gallardo (2) , Olivier Gorgé (1) , Elie Marcheteau (2) , Olivier Ferraris (1) , Artem Baidaliuk (3) , Anne-Laure Favier (1) , Cécile Enfroy (1) , Xavier Holy (1) , Jérémy Lourenco (4) , Rhéa Khoury (5) , Flora Nolent (1) , Douglas W Grosenbach (6) , Dennis Hruby (6) , Audrey Ferrier (1) , Frédéric Iseni (1) , Etienne Simon-Loriere (3) , Jean-Nicolas Tournier (1, 7)

1 IRBA - Institut de Recherche Biomédicale des Armées [Brétigny-sur-Orge]
2 NeoVirTech (FRANCE)
3 Génomique évolutive des virus à ARN - Evolutionary genomics of RNA viruses
4 Maison médicale Chemin vert [Paris]
5 Cerballiance
6 SIGA Technologies [Corvallis, OR]
7 EVDG - École du Val de Grâce

The ongoing monkeypox virus (MPXV) outbreak is the largest ever recorded outside of Africa. Genomic analysis revealed a divergent phylogenetic lineage within clade 3, and atypical clinical presentations have been noted. We report the sequencing and isolation of the virus from the first clinical case diagnosed in France in May 2022. We tested the in vitro effect of tecovirimat (ST-246), a FDA approved drug, against this novel strain, showing efficacy at the nanomolar range. In comparison, cidofovir showed activity at micromolar concentrations. These results and the safety profile of tecovirimat strongly support its use in clinical care of severe forms for the 2022 MPXV outbreak.

Domains: Virology

Gaëlle Frenois-Veyrat, Franck Gallardo, Olivier Gorgé, Elie Marcheteau, Olivier Ferraris, et al.. Tecovirimat is highly efficient on the Monkeypox virus lineage responsible for the international 2022 outbreak. 2022. ⟨pasteur-04036302⟩