SARS-CoV-2: Recent Reports on Antiviral Therapies Based on Lopinavir/Ritonavir, Darunavir/Umifenovir, Hydroxychloroquine, Remdesivir, Favipiravir and other Drugs for the Treatment of the New Coronavirus

Abstract

: Here we report on the most recent updates on experimental drugs successfully employed in the treatment of the disease caused by SARS CoV-2 coronavirus, also referred to as COVID-19 (COronaVIrus Disease 19). In particular, several cases of recovered patients have been reported after being treated with lopinavir/ritonavir (which is widely used to treat human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection) in combination with the anti-flu drug oseltamivir. In addition, remdesivir, which has been previously administered to Ebola virus patients, has also proven effective in the U.S. against coronavirus, while antimalarial chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine, favipiravir and co-administered darunavir and umifenovir (in patient therapies) were also recently recorded as having anti-SARS CoV-2 effects. Since the recoveries/deaths ratio in the last weeks significantly increased, especially in China, it is clear that the experimental antiviral therapy, together with the availability of intensive care unit beds in hospitals and rigorous government control measures, all play an important role in dealing with this virus. This also stresses the urgent need for the scientific community to devote its efforts to find other more specific antiviral strategies.

High-Throughput Human Primary Cell-Based Airway Model for Evaluating Influenza, Coronavirus, or other Respiratory Virusesin vitro

“…Similar challenges are faced for coronavirus infection studies, where the low-throughput and limited availability of appropriate animal models, combined with concerns about their predictive power, are forcing early and often high-risk testing in humans. While many experimental studies are underway to identify drugs with antiviral activity against SARS-CoV-2 [19], the discovery pipeline would benefit significantly from rapid and accurate preclinical models based on human cell culture.…”

The race to find a SARS-CoV-2 drug can only be won by a few chosen drugs: a systematic review of registers of clinical trials of drugs aimed at preventing or treating COVID-19

“…So much so that most hospitalized patients with COVID-19 diagnosis have had to receive off-label or compassionate use therapies, because there were not drugs approved for this disease [8,9]. Because a resurgence of this pandemic seems likely to happen in the autumn [10], it is urgent to test the effectiveness of new drugs, or repurposed ones, for preventing and treating the COVID-19 disease [11,12]. In this context, this study provides an overview of the characteristics of the worldwide registered clinical trials until April 22, 2020.…”

Potential of live pathogen vaccines for defeating the COVID‐19 pandemic: History and mechanism

“…Successful treatment of COVID-19 patients involves three respects: effectively inhibiting the virus replication which is the primary mechanism of the viral pathogenesis, effectively repairing the damages in the lungs and other organs caused by the battle between the host and the virus, and effectively combating secondary mixed infections. [22][23][24][25][26][27] Obviously, few drugs have excellent efficacy in all these three respects, and this has confused people in judging the efficacy of medications for COVID-19. Nevertheless, some medications including remdesivir, chloroquine, and some traditional Chinese medicine like the one termed Lianhuaqingwen, have excellent efficacy in reducing the virus replication in cell culture and inside patients.…”

“…Nevertheless, some medications including remdesivir, chloroquine, and some traditional Chinese medicine like the one termed Lianhuaqingwen, have excellent efficacy in reducing the virus replication in cell culture and inside patients. [24][25][26][27] Hence early use of these medications following inoculation of the LPV could effectively inhibit the virus replication in time. This could prevent various damages in various organs and mixed infections subsequent to the LPV inoculation, and guarantee the safety of the LPV strategy thereby.…”