ArticlePLoS computational biology2021
Lassa viral dynamics in non-human primates treated with favipiravir or ribavirin.
Article in PLoS computational biology, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 18 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
18 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 38 citations in OpenAlex.
- Ribavirin for treating Lassa fever: A systematic review of pre-clinical studies and implications for human dosing.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2022Pooled it
- Favipiravir for Lassa fever: an open-label, randomized controlled phase 2 trial.Nature medicine · 2026Trial
- Computer-Aided Discovery of Small-Molecule Inhibitors of Pathogenic New World Arenavirus Entry and Replication.ACS infectious diseases · 2026Article
- Clinical trial simulation of antiviral drugs.Journal of virology · 2026Review
- Anti-influenza drugs targeting trimeric RNA polymerase complex: From development to clinics.Acta pharmaceutica Sinica. B · 2026Review
- Delayed low-dose oral administration of 4'-fluorouridine inhibits pathogenic arenaviruses in animal models of lethal disease.Science translational medicine · 2024Article
- Treatment of highly virulent mammarenavirus infections-status quo and future directions.Expert opinion on drug discovery · 2024Review
- Review
- Preparing for the next viral threat with broad-spectrum antivirals.The Journal of clinical investigation · 2023Review
- Vaccine Candidates against Arenavirus Infections.Vaccines · 2023Review
- Design, Synthesis, and Biological Evaluation of Benzimidazole Derivatives as Potential Lassa Virus Inhibitors.Molecules (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- Lassa Virus Countermeasures.Current topics in microbiology and immunology · 2023Article
- The risk of drug resistance during long-acting antimicrobial therapy.Proceedings. Biological sciences · 2022Article
- Antiviral efficacy of favipiravir against Zika and SARS-CoV-2 viruses in non-human primates.Nature communications · 2022Article
- Potential and action mechanism of favipiravir as an antiviral against Junin virus.PLoS pathogens · 2022Article
- Recent Trends in Protective Textiles against Biological Threats: A Focus on Biological Warfare Agents.Polymers · 2022Review
- Pathogenicity and virulence mechanisms of Lassa virus and its animal modeling, diagnostic, prophylactic, and therapeutic developments.Virulence · 2021Review
- Lassa Virus Treatment Options.Microorganisms · 2021Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors at 3 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
Abstract
Lassa fever is an haemorrhagic fever caused by Lassa virus (LASV). There is no vaccine approved against LASV and the only recommended antiviral treatment relies on ribavirin, despite limited evidence of efficacy. Recently, the nucleotide analogue favipiravir showed a high antiviral efficacy, with 100% survival obtained in an otherwise fully lethal non-human primate (NHP) model of Lassa fever. However the mechanism of action of the drug is not known and the absence of pharmacokinetic data limits the translation of these results to the human setting. Here we aimed to better understand the antiviral effect of favipiravir by developping the first mathematical model recapitulating Lassa viral dynamics and treatment. We analyzed the viral dynamics in 24 NHPs left untreated or treated with ribavirin or favipiravir, and we put the results in perspective with those obtained with the same drugs in the context of Ebola infection. Our model estimates favipiravir EC50 in vivo to 2.89 μg.mL-1, which is much lower than what was found against Ebola virus. The main mechanism of action of favipiravir was to decrease virus infectivity, with an efficacy of 91% at the highest dose. Based on our knowledge acquired on the drug pharmacokinetics in humans, our model predicts that favipiravir doses larger than 1200 mg twice a day should have the capability to strongly reduce the production infectious virus and provide a milestone towards a future use in humans.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.