Recent biotechnological advances as potential intervention strategies against COVID-19

Abstract

The emerging SARS-CoV-2 viral disease (COVID-19) has caused a global health alert due to its high rate of infection and mortality in individuals with chronic cardiovascular comorbidities, in addition to generating complex clinical conditions. This has forced the scientific community to explore different strategies that allow combating this viral infection as well as treating life-threatening systemic effect of the infection on the individual. In this work, we have reviewed the most recent scientific evidence to provide a comprehensive panorama regarding the biotechnological strategies that have been proposed to combat this new viral infection. We have focused our analysis on vaccine production, nanotechnology applications, repurposing of know drugs for unrelated pathologies, and the search for bioactive molecules obtained from natural products. The goals include safely use as potential prophylactic or therapeutic treatments, based on in silico and in vivo studies, including clinical trials around the world for the correct and timely diagnosis of the infection. This review aims to highlight the development of new ideas that can decrease the time lines for research output and improve research quality while at the same time, keeping in mind the efficacy and safety aspects of these potential biotechnological strategies.

Bioeconomy during the COVID-19 and perspectives for the post-pandemic world: Example from EU

“…This has forced the scientific community to explore various strategies for combating the viral infection as well as treating life-threatening systemic responses to the infection. Within the last year, the joint efforts of scientists all around the world brought out the full potential of the biotechnology sector in the fight against COVID-19 ( Lobo-Galo et al., 2021 ; Uthaya Kumar et al., 2021 ). The efforts undertaken can be divided into several domains as follows.…”

“…Diagnostics plays an important role in the management of infectious diseases as it allows preventing the spread of infections between persons and communities. The first step in managing COVID-19, given its high contagiousness and expeditious spread, is the rapid and accurate detection of SARS-CoV-2 in nasopharyngeal fluids ( Chen et al., 2021 ; Kevadiya et al., 2021 ; Bostan et al., 2020 ; Zhu et al., 2020 ; Lobo-Galo et al., 2021 ; xxi ). Two types of tests have been developed for the diagnosis of COVID-19: nucleic acid tests and antibody tests.…”

“…To date, five therapeutic COVID-19 treatments were approved in the EU: dexamethasone, monoclonal antibody combination bamlanivimab/etesevimab, monoclonal antibody combination casirivimab/imdevimab, monoclonal antibody regdanvimab, and sotrovimab (VIR-7831). xxx In addition, therapeutic administration of convalescent sera is advocated for the treatment of patients with COVID-19 ( Lobo-Galo, 2021 ). However, reports present conflicting data on the effectiveness of such treatments.…”

“…Since the beginning of the pandemic, there has been an intense global effort to repurpose existing approved drugs for the treatment of COVID-19 ( De Savi, 2020 ; Zhou et al., 2020 ; Delre et al., 2020 ; Zhang et al., 2021 ; Singh et al., 2020 ; Lobo-Galo et al., 2021 ). This approach allows for a reduction in development timelines as well as overall costs compared to the de novo drug discovery process.…”

Microbial Metabolites: The Emerging Hotspot of Antiviral Compounds as Potential Candidates to Avert Viral Pandemic Alike COVID-19

“…Microorganisms are natural flora of the environment that play significant role in plenty of processes, and therefore, their metabolites have great potential to be used for antiviral treatment without severe side-effects ( Cheung et al, 2014 ). In fact, microbial metabolites have already been a subject of intense research for the treatment of certain virus-mediated diseases ( Berdy, 2005 ), and currently, there is an emerging trend in biotechnology for therapeutic applications of microbial metabolites as antiviral agents ( Yasuhara-Bell et al, 2010a ; Pham et al, 2019 ; Goris et al, 2021 ; Lobo-Galo et al, 2021 ). Several microbial metabolites have been demonstrated to offer promising antiviral activity against numerous DNA and RNA viruses ( Tong et al, 2012 ; Linnakoski et al, 2018 ; Mulwa and Stadler, 2018 ).…”