This use doesn't have anything to do with sugar chemically, except for the shape of the custom molecules. It sounds like this is a similar idea to a mis-folded

This use doesn't have anything to do with sugar chemically, except for the shape of the custom molecules. It sounds like this is a similar idea to a mis-folded protein, where the shape of the molecules is what is deadly to viruses. It almost doesn't matter what the molecules are made of, as long as they have the shape to disrupt viruses. Sugar was probably chosen because it's non toxic to humans in most cases, and because it could form the needed shape.