Seek Labs, a biotech company boldly seeking a healthier world through AI-powered discovery, programmable therapeutics, and point-of-care diagnostics, today announced successful mapping of the Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) genome using its proprietary BioSeeker™ discovery engine to address one of global health’s most persistent and costly viral threats. By pinpointing highly conserved genomic targets, this mapping accelerates development of a programmable CRISPR-based therapeutic on the company’s Programmable Target Ablation Platform (PTAP™). To date, only one antiviral drug has been approved to treat active RSV infection—used sparingly due to cost and significant adverse side effects—highlighting an urgent need for safe, scalable treatments. Seek Labs’ approach enables development of a single pan-RSV therapeutic candidate designed to treat both A and B subtypes.
RSV: An Urgent Global Health Threat
Each year, RSV causes an estimated 30 million infections globally and more than 100,000 deaths, placing a heavy, recurring burden on healthcare systems worldwide. Seasonal surges routinely overwhelm pediatric wards and intensive care units in North America, Europe, and Australia, among others. Seek Labs’ PTAP platform offers a fundamentally new approach to address this critical therapeutic gap, transforming the fight against RSV from limited treatment options to precise genomic targeting.
BioSeeker Pinpoints RSV’s Genomic Vulnerabilities
BioSeeker scanned over 290,000 publicly available RSV sequences, identifying a multiplexed set of high-potential, PTAP-compatible genomic targets in stable and conserved regions critical for RSV viral replication. These sites form a blueprint for a programmable, CRISPR-based “seek-and-destroy” therapeutic designed to precisely target RSV at its genetic core. This approach accelerates RSV therapeutic development and demonstrates the platform’s potential to rapidly address other high-priority viral threats.
Strategic Addition to the Global Disease Atlas
RSV now joins a growing roster of mapped, high-priority viruses in Seek Labs’ Global Disease Atlas, a continuously updated resource that is on track to map over 95% of the world’s most consequential viral pathogens. By building this strategic repository of high-impact targets, Seek Labs is equipping partners with tools to respond quickly and decisively to both endemic challenges like RSV and future emerging threats.
Call for Development Partners
Seek Labs is actively advancing development of an RSV-targeted therapeutic and invites qualified partners to join this vital effort. By combining BioSeeker’s precision target maps with the company’s cutting-edge Programmable Target Ablation Platform, Seek Labs offers partners an accelerated, de-risked path to advance a potential breakthrough RSV therapeutic and establish leadership in the next generation of programmable antivirals.
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