G.ST Antivirals

Fighting viral diseases is notoriously difficult. Despite decades of research in this field, the number of available drugs remains small and they often display severe side effects. G.ST Antivirals found an innovative host cell-based strategy to develop broad-spectrum antivirals against infections of the respiratory tract such as the common cold, which affects millions of patients every year.

Viruses do not possess a metabolism of their own and are therefore entirely dependent on the host cell to provide the nutrient supply, e.g., of sugar, that they need for replication. The founders of G.ST Antivirals performed pioneering scientific work uncovering specific viral dependencies on host cell metabolic pathways in the field of respiratory viruses. They further discovered that blocking the viruses’ access to nutrients results in their starvation within the host cell and therefore a complete elimination of viral reproduction. This approach has the potential to revolutionize the way we treat viral infections. G.ST Antivirals’ unprecedented approach to treat viral infections is not only highly effective, but also not susceptible to resistance development.

The company is a spin-off of the Medical University of Vienna where the two founders of G.ST Antivirals conducted their research that led to the insights underlying the company’s clinical product. G.ST Antivirals was founded in 2019 to exploit these academic findings and develop therapeutics for the benefit of patients.

We decided to invest in G.ST at a very early stage because of the significant problem the founders are tackling, in combination with a very intriguing scientific approach and the application of a simple chemical entity that showed a promising profile. Additionally, the expertise and leadership qualities of the founders were highly convincing factors in our investment decision. We are excited to see the addition of Pascal Deschateles, CTO of Apellis Pharmaceuticals, to G.ST Antiviral's board of directors.