We may finally be able to beat the common cold with a new drug

At last, an experimental drug has shown promise in beating common cold viruses, raising hopes of an effective treatment against rhinoviruses and other pathogens. 

When tested on human cells in a dish, the drug was found to block several strains of cold virus from replicating, without having any effect on the cells.

The drug works by suppressing a human enzyme that cold viruses use to construct their capsids – the armoured outer shell of a virus. Without this protein shield, a virus’s genetic material is exposed and vulnerable.

There are hundreds of variants of the rhinovirus, so attempts to develop vaccines against the common cold have so far failed. Most current cold treatments do no more than alleviate symptoms such as a runny nose, sore throat, and fever.

But all strains of rhinovirus use the same enzyme to make copies of themselves, suggesting that this drug may be able to treat them all.

However, many more tests of the drug are required first, not only to establish that it works in the human body, but also that it isn’t toxic.