China's COVID Drug Shows Promise Against Deadly Nipah Virus

A virus with no cure and a fatality rate of up to 75% may have found an unlikely adversary in a Chinese COVID-19 drug. As India grapples with a fresh Nipah virus outbreak that has infected at least 5 people in West Bengal, researchers from the Wuhan Institute of Virology say they've discovered that VV116 could offer a "readily available" treatment option.

Two-Thirds Survival Rate in Animal Tests

The breakthrough came from testing the oral antiviral drug on golden hamsters exposed to lethal doses of Nipah virus. While untreated animals would typically die, 66.7% of those given VV116 survived. The drug also significantly reduced viral loads in the lungs, spleen, and brain—the primary target organs of Nipah infection.

"This finding is the first to demonstrate the therapeutic potential of VV116 against Nipah virus," the institute announced Monday. The results suggest the drug could work both as a preventive measure for high-risk groups like healthcare workers and laboratory staff, and as an emergency treatment during outbreaks.

A Ready-Made Solution for an Urgent Problem

What makes this discovery particularly significant is timing and availability. VV116 isn't an experimental compound—it's already been developed and tested for COVID-19 treatment. This means it could potentially be deployed much faster than developing a new drug from scratch, a process that typically takes over a decade.

Nipah virus, first identified in Malaysia in 1998, spreads from bats to pigs to humans. It causes severe brain inflammation and has triggered sporadic but deadly outbreaks across Southeast and South Asia. The World Health Organization lists it as a priority pathogen for research and development, recognizing its pandemic potential.

The Promise and Peril of Drug Repurposing

This research highlights the growing importance of drug repurposing—finding new uses for existing medications. The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated this approach, as scientists raced to identify treatments among already-approved drugs rather than starting from zero.

However, the path from promising animal studies to human treatment isn't straightforward. What works in hamsters doesn't always translate to people, and conducting large-scale human trials for Nipah virus poses unique challenges given the relatively small number of cases and the ethical complexities of testing treatments during deadly outbreaks.