{"id":26222,"date":"2012-06-21T18:47:20","date_gmt":"2012-06-21T16:47:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/?p=26222"},"modified":"2024-11-14T16:28:12","modified_gmt":"2024-11-14T15:28:12","slug":"flu-fighters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/science\/flu-fighters\/","title":{"rendered":"Flu fighters"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Savira pharmaceuticals GmbH, a spin-off of the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) based in Vienna, Austria, has signed a collaboration and license agreement with Roche, thus further strengthening the links between fundamental research and major pharmaceutical development companies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This partnership should promote the joint development of new and innovative drug-candidates to fight both seasonal and pandemic influenza. It is based on research by\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.embl.org\/groups\/cusack\/\">Stephen Cusack<\/a>, Head of EMBL Grenoble, and colleagues Darren Hart and Rob Ruigrok of the joint EMBL-Grenoble University-CNRS Unit for virus host cell interactions (UVHCI). They study the unique mechanism of how the influenza virus replicates, known as \u201ccap-snatching\u201d, and the detailed architecture of the various molecules involved.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Cap-snatching is one of the mechanisms used by the virus to hijack the protein-production machinery of the infected host cell so that it preferentially produces viral proteins. It is performed by a viral enzyme called polymerase. Small molecule inhibitors of the polymerase targeting the cap-snatching mechanism can block viral replication and thus prevent the infection from spreading. Because this mechanism is used by all influenza strains, such inhibitors could potentially help fight a wide range of flu viruses, including novel pandemic strains.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.savira.at\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Savira<\/a>&nbsp;will provide Roche with an exclusive, worldwide license on its cap-snatching inhibitor programme in exchange for milestone payments that could total EUR 240 million, in addition to upfront payments, research and development support, and royalties on product sales.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThis partnership proves the importance of basic research in the fight against global health threats such as flu,\u201d explains Iain Mattaj, Director General of EMBL. \u201cInnovative solutions to current medical challenges can only arise from new fundamental knowledge.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cRoche and Savira started their fruitful collaboration already in 2009,\u201d comments G\u00e1bor Lamm, Managing Director, EMBLEM Technology Transfer GmbH (<a href=\"http:\/\/www.embl-em.de\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">EMBLEM<\/a>). \u201cThis deal will intensify the joint research and development activities towards new and more efficient influenza treatments.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For further information:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.savira.at\/617\/savira-signs%C2%A0collaboration-and-licence-agreement%C2%A0with-roche\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Savira Press Release<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Savira pharmaceuticals GmbH, a spin-off of the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) based in Vienna, Austria, has signed a collaboration and license agreement with Roche, thus further strengthening the links between fundamental research and major pharmaceutical development companies. This&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,17591],"tags":[981,37,655,640,2008],"embl_taxonomy":[],"class_list":["post-26222","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-science","category-science-technology","tag-drug","tag-grenoble","tag-influenza","tag-roche","tag-savira"],"acf":{"show_featured_image":false,"vf_locked":false,"featured":false,"article_intro":"<p>EMBL spin-off Savira pharmaceuticals collaborates with Roche in search for new drug-candidates<\/p>\n","article_sources":false,"related_links":false,"in_this_article":false,"color":"#007B53","link_color":"#fff","youtube_url":"","mp4_url":"","video_caption":"","press_contact":"EMBL Generic","field_target_display":"embl","source_article":false},"embl_taxonomy_terms":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Flu fighters | EMBL<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/science\/flu-fighters\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Flu fighters | EMBL\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Savira pharmaceuticals GmbH, a spin-off of the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) based in Vienna, Austria, has signed a collaboration and license agreement with Roche, thus further strengthening the links between fundamental research and major pharmaceutical development companies. This&hellip;\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/science\/flu-fighters\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"EMBL\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/embl.org\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2012-06-21T16:47:20+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-11-14T15:28:12+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/EMBL_logo_colour.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1638\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"783\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Guest author(s)\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@embl\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@embl\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Guest author(s)\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"NewsArticle\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/science\/flu-fighters\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/science\/flu-fighters\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Guest author(s)\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/b4d9366b2ebe691c4015c64c3619205b\"},\"headline\":\"Flu fighters\",\"datePublished\":\"2012-06-21T16:47:20+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-11-14T15:28:12+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/science\/flu-fighters\/\"},\"wordCount\":315,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/#organization\"},\"keywords\":[\"drug\",\"grenoble\",\"influenza\",\"roche\",\"savira\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Science\",\"Science &amp; Technology\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/science\/flu-fighters\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/science\/flu-fighters\/\",\"name\":\"Flu fighters | EMBL\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2012-06-21T16:47:20+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-11-14T15:28:12+00:00\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/science\/flu-fighters\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/\",\"name\":\"European Molecular Biology Laboratory News\",\"description\":\"News from the European Molecular Biology Laboratory\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/#organization\"},\"alternateName\":\"EMBL News\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/#organization\",\"name\":\"European Molecular Biology Laboratory\",\"alternateName\":\"EMBL\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/EMBL_logo_colour-1-300x144-1.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/EMBL_logo_colour-1-300x144-1.png\",\"width\":300,\"height\":144,\"caption\":\"European Molecular Biology Laboratory\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/embl.org\/\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/embl\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/embl_org\/\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/15813\/\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/emblmedia\/\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/b4d9366b2ebe691c4015c64c3619205b\",\"name\":\"Guest author(s)\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/300b9a1d66050ae03eaeb99869c6ebb30f5184b9468e92a2b3e7d28bc9cf742d?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/300b9a1d66050ae03eaeb99869c6ebb30f5184b9468e92a2b3e7d28bc9cf742d?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Guest author(s)\"},\"description\":\"Guest author(s)\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/author\/guest-author\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Flu fighters | EMBL","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/science\/flu-fighters\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Flu fighters | EMBL","og_description":"Savira pharmaceuticals GmbH, a spin-off of the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) based in Vienna, Austria, has signed a collaboration and license agreement with Roche, thus further strengthening the links between fundamental research and major pharmaceutical development companies. This&hellip;","og_url":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/science\/flu-fighters\/","og_site_name":"EMBL","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/embl.org\/","article_published_time":"2012-06-21T16:47:20+00:00","article_modified_time":"2024-11-14T15:28:12+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1638,"height":783,"url":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/EMBL_logo_colour.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"Guest author(s)","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@embl","twitter_site":"@embl","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Guest author(s)","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/science\/flu-fighters\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/science\/flu-fighters\/"},"author":{"name":"Guest author(s)","@id":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/b4d9366b2ebe691c4015c64c3619205b"},"headline":"Flu fighters","datePublished":"2012-06-21T16:47:20+00:00","dateModified":"2024-11-14T15:28:12+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/science\/flu-fighters\/"},"wordCount":315,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/#organization"},"keywords":["drug","grenoble","influenza","roche","savira"],"articleSection":["Science","Science &amp; Technology"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/science\/flu-fighters\/","url":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/science\/flu-fighters\/","name":"Flu fighters | EMBL","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/#website"},"datePublished":"2012-06-21T16:47:20+00:00","dateModified":"2024-11-14T15:28:12+00:00","inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/science\/flu-fighters\/"]}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/","name":"European Molecular Biology Laboratory News","description":"News from the European Molecular Biology Laboratory","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/#organization"},"alternateName":"EMBL News","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/#organization","name":"European Molecular Biology Laboratory","alternateName":"EMBL","url":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/EMBL_logo_colour-1-300x144-1.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/EMBL_logo_colour-1-300x144-1.png","width":300,"height":144,"caption":"European Molecular Biology Laboratory"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/embl.org\/","https:\/\/x.com\/embl","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/embl_org\/","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/15813\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/emblmedia\/"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/b4d9366b2ebe691c4015c64c3619205b","name":"Guest author(s)","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/300b9a1d66050ae03eaeb99869c6ebb30f5184b9468e92a2b3e7d28bc9cf742d?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/300b9a1d66050ae03eaeb99869c6ebb30f5184b9468e92a2b3e7d28bc9cf742d?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Guest author(s)"},"description":"Guest author(s)","url":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/author\/guest-author\/"}]}},"field_target_display":"embl","field_article_language":{"value":"english","label":"English"},"fimg_url":false,"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.svg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26222","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/16"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26222"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26222\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":49634,"href":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26222\/revisions\/49634"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26222"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26222"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26222"},{"taxonomy":"embl_taxonomy","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/embl_taxonomy?post=26222"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}