Dengue therapeutics consortium 2025: a global collaboration in action

Angela McBride, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
Ho Quang Chanh, Oxford University Clinical Research Unit Vietnam, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.
Huynh Trung Trieu, Paediatric Intensive Care Unit, Hospital for Tropical Diseases, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.
Huyen Bang Tran, Oxford University Clinical Research Unit Vietnam, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.
Kathryn B. Anderson, State University of New York Upstate Medical University, Syracuse, New York, USA.
Rosemary A. Aogo, Viral Epidemiology and Immunity Unit, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Laboratory of Infectious Diseases, Bethesda, Maryland, USA.
Panisadee Avirutnan, Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand.
Luu Hoai Tran, Oxford University Clinical Research Unit Vietnam, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.
Xin Hui Chan, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
Richa Chandra, Novartis Pharmaceuticals, Basel, Switzerland.
Aileen Chang, The George Washington University, Washington, District of Columbia, USA.
Po Ying Chia, Tan Tock Seng Hospital National Centre for Infectious Diseases, Singapore.
Vanessa Daniel, Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative South-East Asia, Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Anastasiia Demidova, Independent Researcher, Limassol, Cyprus.
Monika Patricia Consuegra Rodriguez, Centro de Atención y Diagnóstico de Enfermedades Infecciosas, Bucaramanga, Colombia.
Claudia Figueiredo-Mello, Instituto de Infectologia Emílio Ribas, São Paulo, Brazil.
Esteban Garcia-Gallo, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
William Garrood, Wellcome Trust, London, UK.
Dong Thi Tam, Oxford University Clinical Research Unit Vietnam, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.
Thomas Jaenisch, Center for Global Health, Colorado School of Public Health, Aurora, Colorado, USA.
Matthew Kain, Institute of Naval Medicine, Alverstoke, England, UK.
Leah Katzelnick, Viral Epidemiology and Immunity Unit, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Laboratory of Infectious Diseases, Bethesda, Maryland, USA.
Phung Khanh Lam, Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health, National University of Singapore, Singapore.
Stije J. Leopold, Mahidol Oxford Tropical Medicine Research Unit, Bangkok, Thailand.
Caeul Lim, Clinical Monitoring Research Program Directorate, National Cancer Institute Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research, Frederick, Maryland, USA.
Andre M Siqueira, Drugs for Neglected Diseases Initiative, Geneva, Switzerland.
Gathsaurie Neelika Malavige, Department of Immunology and Molecular Medicine, University of Sri Jayewardenepura, Nugegoda, Sri Lanka.
Shikha Malik, Drugs for Neglected Diseases Initiative, Geneva, Switzerland.
Laura Merson, Public Health Department, Institut Pasteur de Dakar, Dakar, Senegal.
Isabelle Meyer-Andrieux, Novartis Pharmaceuticals, Basel, Switzerland.
Nathaniel Moorman, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA.
Aaron Neal, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA.

Document Type

Journal Article

Publication Date

1-1-2026

Journal

BMJ public health

Volume

4

Issue

1

DOI

10.1136/bmjph-2025-004043

Keywords

Disease Vectors; Endemic Diseases; Epidemics

Abstract

Dengue is a global health emergency, with annually increasing case numbers that overwhelm healthcare systems, an ever-expanding range of the mosquito vector, and no antiviral or host-directed treatments proven to alter the course of disease. This article reports on a meeting of the Dengue Therapeutics Consortium, which included attendees from 19 countries with backgrounds in basic science, clinical research, drug development, industry, clinical trial methodology and policy. We summarise the current state of dengue therapeutics research and highlight the necessary steps to ensure that patients have equitable access to affordable and effective treatments. We review the antiviral pipeline, including novel and repurposed antiviral candidates, and we propose both human challenge and rate of viral clearance studies as methods to rapidly screen for antiviral activity prior to larger phase 3 clinical trials. We review ongoing phase 2 and phase 3 clinical trials to evaluate repurposed host-directed therapies for patients with moderate and severe disease, and we suggest considerations for future trial design, such as factorial randomisation and the use of a core outcome set to maximise efficiency and enable evidence synthesis by meta-analysis. We consider that multisectoral collaboration will be essential to achieve our aim of effective treatments for dengue. This will include drug development aligned to target product profiles, conduct of clinical trials with endpoints acceptable to both patients and regulators and sustained commitment from the pharmaceutical industry, non-profit initiatives and policymakers to ensure that effective treatments reach those who need them the most.

Department

Medicine

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