Remdesivir, A Potential Drug for COVID-19 Treatment: A New Hope

Coronaviruses ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 01 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kuldeep Singh ◽  
Dilpreet Singh ◽  
Karan Razdan

Objective: Coronavirus Diease-2019 (COVID-19) is a pandemic outbreak in the world and is the leading cause of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS). Methods: Currently, many drugs/therapies have been tested for COVID-19 which responded sub optimally to the patients. Remdesivir is a RNA polymerase inhibitor found promising results in ongoing clinical trials and shows faster recovery rate in COVID-19 patients. Currently, USFDA approves for emergent use of this drug in severe COVID-19 patients. Results: In this review, we discussed brief overview of biopharmaceutical and pharmacological aspects of Remdesivir. Moreover, ongoing regulatory status of Remdesivir by official bodies has also been described.

2021 ◽  
Vol 16 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bensu Karahalil ◽  
Aylin Elkama

Background: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a new strain of coronavirus. It is characterized by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). It has quickly influenced all over the world since it spreads easily. Common symptoms are fever, cough, difficulty in breathing and muscle aches. Despite the urgent need to find an effective antiviral treatment, already available agents are being used alone or in combination all over the world. At the beginning of the pandemic, death rates of infection caused by COVID-19 are high but "is COVID-19 responsible for all deaths?", or “are there any contributions of the frequently used drugs in this period to these deaths?” Surely herd immunity plays a major role and has the contribution in the decline in mortality rates. Meanwhile, it is kept in mind that due to safety concerns, changes have also been made to the dosage and combined use of frequently used drugs. Objective: In this review, answers to two questions above and the safety of treatments, toxicities of agents involving chloroquine, hydroxychloroquine, remdesivir, favipiravir, lopiravir/ritonavir, sarilumab, tocilizumab, siltuximab, corticosteroids and bromhexine which are the most frequently used in both Turkey and all over the world will be summarized. Conclusion: Among these drugs favipiravir seems the most promising drug due to more tolerable adverse effects. More clinical trials with large sample sizes are needed to find the most effective and safe drug for COVID-19 treatment.


2020 ◽  
Vol 64 (12) ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter A. McCullough

ABSTRACT It is becoming increasingly clear that severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), like most human viral infections, will require multiple drugs in combination to treat COVID-19 illness. In this issue of the Journal, Doi and colleagues describe successful treatment of patients with early COVID-19 with favipiravir, an oral polymerase inhibitor, to rapidly and substantially clear SARS-CoV-2 from nasal secretions irrespective if it was started relatively early or later within the first week of infection. These data support the concept that favipiravir could be paired with at least one more off-target antiviral agent (doxycycline, azithromycin, or ivermectin) followed by corticosteroids and antithrombotics to prevent COVID-19 hospitalization and death in those over age 50 and/or those with one or more comorbidities. Clinical trials and advanced practice should immediately pivot to combination/sequential drug therapy for ambulatory COVID-19 illness.


Viruses ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (8) ◽  
pp. 1585
Author(s):  
Milan Dejmek ◽  
Eva Konkoľová ◽  
Luděk Eyer ◽  
Petra Straková ◽  
Pavel Svoboda ◽  
...  

SARS-CoV-2 has caused an extensive pandemic of COVID-19 all around the world. Key viral enzymes are suitable molecular targets for the development of new antivirals against SARS-CoV-2 which could represent potential treatments of the corresponding disease. With respect to its essential role in the replication of viral RNA, RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp) is one of the prime targets. HeE1-2Tyr and related derivatives were originally discovered as inhibitors of the RdRp of flaviviruses. Here, we present that these pyridobenzothiazole derivatives also significantly inhibit SARS-CoV-2 RdRp, as demonstrated using both polymerase- and cell-based antiviral assays.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dhruv Kumar

In December 2019, outbreak of novel coronavirus (COVID-19) occurred in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China and exported across the world leading to thousands of deaths and millions of suspected cases. Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV2) infection into the host undergoes a huge number of complex replicative machineries which still remains unclear. Understanding the mechanism (s) of replication and mode of infection of SARS-CoV2 to human cells will help us in the development of novel vaccines or drugs for the eradication and prevention of the disease. This review compiles the knowledge of SARS-CoV2 replicative machinery, mode of infection to the human cells and the development of drugs and vaccines which are currently under clinical trials.


Author(s):  
Dany Geraldo Kramer ◽  
Maria Josilene Leonardo Da Silva ◽  
Gislanne Stéphanne Estevam Da Silva ◽  
Ana Maria Marinho Andrade De Moura ◽  
Geraldo Barroso Cavalcanti Junior ◽  
...  

Favipiravir is a drug developed for use against influenza and has been used successfully in other infectious conditions. After being internalized in the cell, the substance is phosphoribosylated acting on the RNA polymerase, and thus inhibiting replication and RNA viruses. Thus, the present study aimed to discuss the potential use of favipiravir in coronovavirus infections. There have been few studies involving favipiravir in COVID 19, however there is a report of recovery in more than 70% of patients diagnosed with pneumonia. However, new studies need to be carried out, mainly randomized clinical trials, so that the potential use of favipiravir in coronoviruses is adequately grounded.


2020 ◽  
Vol 95 (6) ◽  
pp. 364-369
Author(s):  
Pyoeng Gyun Choe

In December 2019, a new strain of betacoronavirus, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, which causes coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), emerged in Wuhan, China. Subsequently, the virus quickly spread worldwide and the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a global pandemic on March 11, 2020. In response to the pandemic, many researchers are working on repurposing existing drugs to alter the course of severe COVID-19, and are testing experimental treatments. Among antiviral agents, remdesivir, an RNA-dependent RNA polymerase inhibitor, showed clinical benefit in a randomized clinical trial. In October 2020, the Food and Drug Administration approved remdesivir for treating hospitalized patients with COVID-19, making it the first drug approved for the disease. The race to produce safe, effective vaccines is also progressing at unprecedented speed, with over 200 under development and 45 candidates already being tested in human clinical trials (as of October 2020).


Author(s):  
Ripu Daman M. Singh ◽  
Nida Malim ◽  
Aves Raza Khan ◽  
Huda Khan ◽  
Nauman Khatib ◽  
...  

The coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) is a highly transmittable and pathogenic viral infection caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)bat viruses, therefore bats could be the possible primary reservoir , which emerged in Wuhan, China and spread around the world. The intermediate source of origin and transfer to humans is not known, however, the rapid human to human transfer has been confirmed widely. There is no clinically approved antiviral drug or vaccine available to be used against COVID-19. However, few broad-spectrum antiviral drugs have been evaluated against COVID-19 in clinical trials, resulted in clinical recovery. We also discuss the approaches for  therapeutic combinations to cope with this viral outbreak. Chloroquine has been sporadically used in treating SARS-CoV-2 infection. Hydroxychloroquine shares the same mechanism of action as chloroquine, but its more tolerable safety profile makes it the preferred drug to treat malaria and autoimmune conditions. We propose that the immunomodulatory effect of hydroxychloroquine also may be useful in controlling the cytokine storm that occurs late-phase in critically ill SARS-CoV-2 infected patients.


2020 ◽  
Vol 33 (7-8) ◽  
pp. 500
Author(s):  
Natalia Marto ◽  
Emília C. Monteiro

The novel severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 is the cause of Coronavirus Disease 2019, a new illness with no effective treatment or vaccine that has reached pandemic proportions. In this document, we analyze how health authorities and agencies around the world position themselves regarding the off-label use of repurposed drugs or new investigational drugs to treat Coronavirus Disease 2019. We review the most promising candidate medicines, including available evidence, clinical recommendations and current options for access. Our concluding remarks stress the importance of administering off-label and investigational drugs in the setting of clinical trials, or at least in standardized scenarios, to generate as much scientific knowledge as achievable while engaging in the best efforts to treat patients and save lives.


Author(s):  
Subhradip Kundu ◽  
Debayan Sarkar

: Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) aka SARS-CoV spread over southern China for the first time in 2002-2003 and history repeated again since last year and take away more than two million people so far. On March 11, 2020 COVID-19 outbreak was officially declared as pandemic by World Health Organization (WHO). Entire world united to fight back against this ultimate destruction. Around 90 vaccines are featured against SARS-CoV-2 and more than 300 active clinical trials are underway by several groups and individuals. So far, no drugs are currently approved that completely eliminates the deadly corona virus. The promising SARS-CoV-2 anti-viral drugs are favipiravir, remdesivir, lopinavir, ribavirin and avifavir. In this review, we have discussed the synthetic approaches elaborately made so far by different groups and chemical companies all around the world towards top three convincing anti-viral drugs against SARS-CoV-2 which are favipiravir, remdesivir and lopinavir.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roberto Nico Dallocchio ◽  
Alessandro Dessì ◽  
Andrea De Vito ◽  
Giovanna Delogu ◽  
Pier Andrea ◽  
...  

Abstract Since no effective therapy exists, we aimed to test existing HIV antivirals for combination treatment of Coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19). Our molecular docking findings suggest that lopinavir, ritonavir, darunavir, and atazanavir activated interactions with the key binding sites of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) protease with a better Ki for lopinavir, ritonavir, and darunavir. Furthermore, we evidenced the ability of remdesivir, tenofovir, emtricitabine, and lamivudine to be incorporated in SARS-CoV-2 RNA-dependent RNA polymerase in the same protein pocket where poses the corresponding natural nucleoside substrates with comparable Ki and activating similar interactions. In principle, the four antiviral nucleotides might be used effectively against SARS-CoV-2. The combination of a protease inhibitor and two nucleoside analogues should be evaluated in clinical trials for the treatment of COVID-19.


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