NanoViricides, Inc.

NanoViricides, Inc. is a clinical-stage biotechnology company whose core business model is the development of antiviral drug candidates. The company’s primary research and development activities rely on lethal challenge animal models to test the efficacy of its compounds. For example, its lead candidate, NV-387, has been evaluated in “lethal animal models” of orthopoxvirus infection in mice, and the company has commissioned studies using “lethal animal infection models” for other viruses like measles. This pre-clinical testing, which is central to its drug development pipeline, involves intentionally infecting animals with lethal pathogens.

The company’s public disclosures and scientific collaborations consistently reference these animal challenge studies as a key method for demonstrating therapeutic potential. While such testing is a regulatory requirement for drug development, it constitutes commercial exploitation of animals under the firm’s exclusion criteria, as the activity is integral to its business of creating and commercializing pharmaceutical products. There is no public evidence of the company employing non-animal testing methods as a primary alternative at this stage of development.