Developing Medicines to Treat Respiratory Viruses

Altesa is a clinical-stage pharmaceutical company dedicated to developing new treatments for age-old threats to human health: high-consequence viral infections. These infections are particularly severe in vulnerable people, including those with chronic health conditions, like lung diseases, as well as the elderly, and many people in underserved communities. Altesa builds upon a proven, highly successful drug development platform that already has prevented countless deaths from the two most impactful pandemics of the past 100 years—HIV/AIDS and COVID-19.
Our objective is to develop safe and effective anti-viral medicines, in simple oral dosage forms. that, when prescribed for the right people at the right time, will halt the progression of infection before it becomes serious – or even prevent the infection altogether. This strategy extends the proven benefits of testing for viruses such as the flu or COVID-19, which both have caused suffering and death among vulnerable people but can be treated if properly diagnosed. Viral pathogens like these and others have plagued mankind for many thousands of years but testing for and treating them is an effective strategy to blunt their impact and ideally, to defeat them.
Making the Future Safe from Common Viral Threats
We are dedicated to developing antiviral treatments safely and effieciently, ushering them from discovery through clinical trials, and ultimately FDA approval. Enabled by advances in viral testing in the home, at pharmacies, and in physician offices, our objective is to provide medicines that can be taken by mouth, at home, to the right people at the right time, namely, people who are at the most significant risk of becoming seriously ill from respiratory viruses.We are inspired by the significant impact our work could have for millions of vulnerable or underserved adults and children whose lives literally depend on the development of new treatments.
My number one priority is to make a difference in patients’ lives. I am confident that we can develop safe and highly effective treatments against a broad variety of pathogenic viruses, just as we have already done for HIV/AIDS and COVID-19.
George Painter, PhD
Co-Founder, Altesa BioSciences
Vapendavir
Vapendavir is our most advanced medicine (Phase 2 Clinical Trials). We are currently investigating the treatment of the most common viral infection experienced by people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD.) Within two decades, COPD is expected to become the leading cause of death globally.