Two medications commonly used to treat inflammation and HIV infection have been repurposed in the fight against COVID-19. Researchers found combined cepharanthine/nelfinavir therapy can hasten the clearance of coronavirus infection from a person's lungs in as little as 4.9 days. Cepharanthine hindered the entry of SARS_CoV_2 into cells, preventing the virus from binding to a protein on the cell membrane it uses as a gateway. Nelfinavir prevented the virus from replicating inside cells by inhibiting a protein the virus relies on for replication.
Macaque monkeys infected with mild-to-moderate coronavirus responded well to the antiviral Remdesivir. Researchers report the monkeys showed reduced clinical symptoms and less lung damage when the drug was administered. The findings back up other reports which claim the drug is effective at treating human COVID-19 infections in current clinical trials.
Researchers conducting a clinical trial of Remdesivir to treat coronavirus report the drug appears to be promising. The drug, initially designed to treat Ebola, is well tolerated, and patients treated with the drug are showing signs of recovery. Early indications suggest Remdesivir could stave off the need for intubating patients suffering from COVID-19.
Coronaviruses rely on the TOP3B enzyme as a host factor, researchers report. Using artificial intelligence and molecular modeling, researchers were able to identify drug candidates that could serve as TOP3B inhibitors. Studies are now underway to test the drug candidates against living cell cultures and viruses, including COVID-19.
Remdesivir, a drug initially developed to fight Ebola and currently being fast-tracked into trials for COVID-19, is highly effective at stopping the replication mechanism of coronavirus. The drug tricks the virus by mimicking its building blocks, causing the inhibitor to get incorporated repeatedly, and preventing replication of SARS-CoV-2.
Biological sequencing of the fusion peptides of SARS-CoV and SARS-CoV-2 found them to be a 93% match. Calcium ions interacting with the fusion peptide alters the peptide's structure, and how it interacts with membranes to promote infection. The findings provide a potential target for antiviral development to treat coronavirus.
EIDD-2801, a new antiviral drug, has the potential to treat coronavirus. A new study reveals the drug can prevent severe lung injury in mouse models and cultured human lung cells infected with COVID-19. The drug will soon be ready for human testing.
A drug used to treat feline infectious peritonitis, an often fatal coronavirus infection in cats, may hold the key for developing a treatment for human COVID-19.
Genetic mutations which lead to abnormal RNA in regions of repeat DNA sequences set off anti-viral like inflammatory responses. This leads to apoptosis and ultimately trigger the onset of neurodegenerative diseases.