Potential Antiviral Drugs for SARS-Cov-2 Treatment: Preclinical Findings and Ongoing Clinical Research

• Published in: In vivo (Athens) 2020-06, Vol.34 (3 Suppl), p.1597-1602
• Main Authors: Bimonte, Sabrina, Crispo, Anna, Amore, Alfonso, Celentano, Egidio, Cuomo, Arturo, Cascella, Marco
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adenosine Monophosphate - analogs & derivatives; Adenosine Monophosphate - therapeutic use; Alanine - analogs & derivatives; Alanine - therapeutic use; Animals; Antibodies, Monoclonal, Humanized - therapeutic use; Antiviral Agents - administration & dosage; Antiviral Agents - pharmacology; Antiviral Agents - therapeutic use; Betacoronavirus - drug effects; Chloroquine - analogs & derivatives; Chloroquine - therapeutic use; Clinical Trials as Topic; Coronavirus Infections - complications; Coronavirus Infections - drug therapy; Coronavirus Infections - epidemiology; Coronavirus Infections - veterinary; COVID-19; Drug Combinations; Drug Evaluation, Preclinical; Drug Synergism; Drug Therapy, Combination; Drugs, Investigational - therapeutic use; Humans; Indoles - therapeutic use; Lopinavir - therapeutic use; Multicenter Studies as Topic; Neuraminidase - antagonists & inhibitors; Pandemics; Pneumonia, Viral - complications; Pneumonia, Viral - drug therapy; Pneumonia, Viral - epidemiology; Primates; Review; Ribavirin - therapeutic use; Ritonavir - therapeutic use; SARS-CoV-2; Treatment Outcome
• ISSN: 0258-851X; 1791-7549
• DOI: 10.21873/invivo.11949

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-Cov-2), initially termed 2019-new CoV (2019-nCoV), is a novel coronavirus responsible for the severe respiratory illness currently ongoing worldwide from the beginning of December 2019. This beta gene virus, very close to bat coronaviruses (bat-CoV-RaTG13) and bat-SL-CoVZC45, causes a severe disease, similar to those caused by Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS)-CoV and SARS-CoV viruses, featured by low to moderate mortality rate. Unfortunately, the antiviral drugs commonly used in clinical practice to treat viral infections, are not applicable to SARS-Cov-2 and no vaccine is available. Thus, it is extremely necessary to identify new drugs suitable for the treatment of the 2019-nCoV outbreak. Different preclinical studies conducted on other coronaviruses suggested that promising clinical outcomes for 2019-nCoV should be obtained by using alpha-interferon, chloroquine phosphate, arabinol, remdesivir, lopinavir/ritonavir, and anti-inflammatory drugs. Moreover, clinical trials with these suitable drugs should be performed on patients affected by SARS-Cov-2 to prove their efficacy and safety. Finally, a very promising therapeutic drug, tocilizumab, is discussed; it is currently used to treat patients presenting COVID-19 pneumonia. Herein, we recapitulate these experimental studies to highlight the use of antiviral drugs for the treatment of SARS-Cov-2 disease.