Exploring Marine Natural Products as Antiviral Agents, Advances and Emerging Opportunities

Marine natural products have emerged as a promising source of antiviral agents, offering unique chemical diversity and bioactivity that are valuable for combatting viral infections. The recent advances in the discovery, characterization, and antiviral efficacy of marine-derived compounds, including peptides, polysaccharides, alkaloids, and terpenes, against viruses such as HIV, hepatitis, influenza, and coronaviruses. The mechanisms by which these marine natural products inhibit viral replication vary, targeting key viral proteins, entry pathways, and replication machinery, providing diverse modes of action that can help circumvent viral resistance. Advances in extraction, synthesis, and bioassay screening technologies have accelerated the identification of potent antiviral candidates from marine organisms, such as sponges, algae, fungi, and marine bacteria, the potential for novel marine-derived antiviral therapies is expanding, supported by new insights into molecular mechanisms and promising preclinical results. The advances, challenges remain, including sustainable harvesting, compound stability, and regulatory considerations. The perspectives in optimizing the drug-like properties of marine antivirals, scaling up production, and integrating these compounds into broader antiviral therapy pipelines, exploration of marine biodiversity holds substantial promise for addressing current and emerging viral threats.