Researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology(IIT) Roorkee have discovered the antiviral properties of an existing drug piperazine, which could prove to be effective in treating chikungunya.

Chikungunya is a viral disease which is transmitted to humans by mosquitoes infected with the virus. Researchers have realized the potential of piperazine as a pharmacotherapeutic agent. By reacting with capsid protein present in Chikungunya virus, it is able to curb the spread and replication of the virus.

Dr. Shailly Tomar of the Biotechnology department at the institute said that every year many are affected by Chikungunya and it is gradually becoming a major public health concern. There is no vaccine or antiviral drug available in the market for the cure of chikungunya currently and treatment involved on relieving the symptoms associated with the virus infection.

She said that developing a new antiviral drug molecule might take over a decade and that is the reason why they decided to look at repositioning existing, approved drugs and testing those to see if they might inhibit or kill pathogenic viruses.

Tomar said that their research has yielded positive results in a lab setting and they hope to conduct clinical trials soon.