Patent ID: 8399423

Claim:
A method for therapeutically treating a mammal having a disease caused by a pathogen mediated by TLR7, TLR8 and/or TLR9, wherein the pathogen is Cytomegalovirus, Hepatitis A virus, Hepatitis B virus, Hepatitis C virus, Hepatitis delta virus, Hepatitis E virus, Herpes simplex virus, Human immunodeficiency virus, Human papillomavirus, Influenzavirus A, Influenzavirus B, Influenzavirus C, Colorado Tick Fever virus, Dengue virus, Ebolavirus, Coxsackie A virus, Enterovirus 71, Varicella zoster virus, Lassa virus, Marburg virus, Epstein-Barr virus/Human herpesvirus 4, Norovirus, Rotavirus, JC virus, Rabies virus, SARS-associated coronavirus, Variola virus, Human respiratory syncytial virus, Adenoviruses, Human metapneulmovirus, West Nile virus, Yellow fever virus, Picornaviruses, Measles virus, Mumps virus, Poliovirus, Rubella virus, Japanese encephalitis virus, Chandipura virus, St. Louis encephalitis virus, Eastern equine encephalomyelitis virus, Western equine encephalitis virus or Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus, such method comprising administering to the mammal a pharmaceutically effective amount of an IRO compound comprising at least two oligonucleotides linked by a non-nucleotide linker at their 3′ ends or by a functionalized sugar or by a functionalized nucleobase via a non-nucleotide linker, wherein at least one oligonucleotide has the structure 5′-N m —N 3 N 2 N 1 CGN 1 N 2 N 3 —N m -3′: wherein: CG is an oligonucleotide motif that is CpG, C*pG, C*pG* or CpG*, wherein C is cytosine, C* is a pyrimidine nucleotide derivative, G is guanosine, and G* is a purine nucleotide derivative; N 1 is a modified nucleotide that suppresses the activity of the oligonucleotide motif selected from the group consisting of 2′-substituted ribonucleoside, 2′-O-substituted ribonucleoside, 2′-substituted arabinoside, and 2′-O-substituted arabinoside; N 2 -N 3 , at each occurrence, is independently i) a nucleotide, ii) a nucleotide derivative, or iii) a modified nucleotide that suppresses the activity of the oligonucleotide motif selected from the group consisting of 2-substituted ribonucleoside, 2′-O-substituted ribonucleoside, 2′-substituted arabinoside, and 2′-O-substituted arabinoside; N 1 -N 3 , at each occurrence, is independently i) a nucleotide or ii) a nucleotide derivative; N m and N m , at each occurrence, is independently a nucleotide, nucleotide derivative or non-nucleotide linkage; provided that the compound contains less than 3 consecutive guanosine nucleotides; wherein the oligonucleotide motif would be immune stimulatory but for the one or more modified nucleotides that suppresses the activity of the oligonucleotide motif, wherein m is a number from 0 to about 30; and wherein the IRO is an antagonist of an agonist of TLR7, TLR8 and/or TLR9; provided that the at least two oligonucleotides are not antisense oligonucleotides.