A Harmless Avian Vaccine Virus Could Be Developed into an Off-the-Shelf “Antibiotic” for Viruses

A repurposed apathogenic double stranded (ds) RNA vaccine virus, the infectious bursal disease virus (IBDV), significantly upregulates the expressions of type I interferon (IFN) genes. IBDV superinfection therapy (SIT) has been proven to be safe and effective against hepatitis A, B, and C viruses (HAV, HBV, HCV), severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), and herpes zoster virus (HZV). IBDV might be used to control most virus infections before adaptive immunity develops. The safety and efficacy of a reverse engineered new IBDV viral drug candidate, strain R903/78, could be reconfirmed in herpes zoster patients in a short-term Phase I/II study. With an off-the-shelf, stockpiled R903/78 drug, many millions of deaths and a repeat of the US$12 trillion the world spent on COVID-19 could be mitigated.