New hopes
Four drugs have been found that effectively stop SARS-CoV-2
Svetlana Maslova, Hi-tech+
Scientists from the United States have discovered four medicinal compounds that effectively stopped the replication of the coronavirus. The drugs are aimed at blocking a specific enzyme, without which SARS-CoV-2 cannot infect healthy cells.
The candidate drugs discovered by scientists from the University of Arizona and the University of South Florida target the Mpro protease of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus. Without this enzyme, the virus cannot multiply and infect healthy cells. It turned out that all four drugs were superior to other Mpro inhibitors that had previously been identified as candidates for clinical trials, writes EurekAlert.
Article by Ma et al. Boceprevir, GC-376, and calpain inhibitors II, XII inhibit SARS-CoV-2 viral replication by targeting the viral main protease is published in the journal Cell Research – VM.
The first among the candidates against SARS-CoV-2 was the human-approved hepatitis C drug boceprevir.
This is the most promising drug for clinical research, scientists believe, since its safety, dosage and digestibility in the human body is already known.
The second drug GC-376 is used to treat coronaviruses in cats. Preclinical experiments showed that it was the strongest inhibitor of SARS-CoV-2. Now scientists are planning its preliminary testing on animal models.
Two other drugs – calpain II inhibitors and cysteine inhibitors – have previously been studied for the treatment of cancer and neurodegenerative diseases. They have also shown strong antiviral activity and, unlike other candidates, these drugs may have an additional advantage in suppressing drug resistance.
At the moment, dexamethasone is considered one of the most promising drugs that reduce the risk of mortality from COVID-19, clinical studies have shown. Meanwhile, scientists at the University of California at San Diego were able to cope with SARS-CoV-2 without a vaccine and drugs: researchers have developed special nanocubes that deceive the virus and block its ability to reproduce.
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