21 current medication recognized as potential remedy for coronavirus – Medical Information Bulletin
Replication of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, can be prevented by several drugs in place, according to a global team of scientists.
Due to the lengthy vaccine development process, repositioning clinically evaluated drugs has been recognized as a practical strategy for identifying treatments for new infectious diseases such as COVID-19. A number of clinical studies have focused on the conversion of several antiviral therapies. Remdesivir has already received an emergency approval for the treatment of COVID-19 as clinical studies have shown it can reduce the time to recovery.
An international team of scientists, published in Nature, analyzed one of the world's largest collections of known drugs. This library contained approximately 12,000 small molecules in clinical stage or approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Laboratory tests confirmed that 100 of these molecules had antiviral activity, and 21 were found to be effective at a concentration that is safe for humans. Four of the drugs were also found to work in line with remdesivir, which is already a coronavirus treatment that allows for a shorter recovery time.
Extensive tests were performed on human lung biopsies to assess antiviral activity, dose response, and interaction with remdesivir. Twenty-one of the drugs effectively blocked the replication of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. Two of these drugs have already been approved by the FDA for other conditions, and one of the four drugs that work in synergy with remdesivir has already entered phase 3 clinical trials.
Since some of the drugs already have clinical safety data in humans, this is a good sign of potential therapeutic options for treating COVID-19. Although some are already being tested in clinical trials, the others may be additional candidates, opening up a wider variety of treatment options. There remains an urgent need to find drugs that work alongside remdesivir in the treatment of COVID-19, or that can be offered prophylactically at the first sign of infection.
All 21 molecules will continue to be tested in small animal models and, if successful, will be submitted to the FDA for approval for clinical trials to treat coronavirus. It is suggested that the known safety profiles of these molecules in humans will allow an accelerated clinical evaluation of these drugs for the treatment of COVID-19.
Written by Helen Massy, BSc.
References:
EurekAlert !. 2020. Nature study identifies 21 existing drugs that could treat COVID-19. (online) Available at:
Riva, L., Yuan, S., Yin, X. et al. Discovery of SARS-CoV-2 antiviral drugs through large-scale compound reuse. Nature (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-020-2577-1
Image by Omni Matryx from Pixabay
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