The portfolio of SARS-CoV-2 small molecule drugs is currently
limited
to a handful that are either approved (remdesivir), emergency approved
(dexamethasone, baricitinib, paxlovid, and molnupiravir), or in advanced
clinical trials. Vandetanib is a kinase inhibitor which targets the
vascular endothelial growth factor receptor (VEGFR), the epidermal
growth factor receptor (EGFR), as well as the RET-tyrosine kinase.
In the current study, it was tested in different cell lines and showed
promising results on inhibition versus the toxic effect on A549-hACE2
cells (IC
50
0.79 μM) while also showing a reduction
of >3 log TCID
50
/mL for HCoV-229E. The in vivo efficacy
of vandetanib was assessed in a mouse model of SARS-CoV-2 infection
and statistically significantly reduced the levels of IL-6, IL-10,
and TNF-α and mitigated inflammatory cell infiltrates in the
lungs of infected animals but did not reduce viral load. Vandetanib
also decreased CCL2, CCL3, and CCL4 compared to the infected animals.
Vandetanib additionally rescued the decreased IFN-1β caused
by SARS-CoV-2 infection in mice to levels similar to that in uninfected
animals. Our results indicate that the FDA-approved anticancer drug
vandetanib is worthy of further assessment as a potential therapeutic
candidate to block the COVID-19 cytokine storm.