Title:Pharmacological Strategies for COVID-19 - A Review of the Most Promising Repurposed Antiviral Drugs
Volume: 21
Issue: 7
Author(s): Deepti Chopra, Jaspreet K Boparai, Bharti Bhandari*, Anurag Srivastava and Rakesh Gupta
Affiliation:
- Department of Physiology, Government Institute of Medical Sciences, Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh,India
Keywords:
COVID-19, 2019-nCoV, SARS- CoV-2, novel coronavirus, repurposed drugs, antiviral therapies.
Abstract: A novel coronavirus, SARS- CoV-2 (2019-nCoV), emerged in December 2019 as an immediate
global challenge. Comprehensive efforts at the present time are focused simultaneously on
containing the spread of this virus and extenuating the ill effects. There is an immediate need for
drugs that can help before a vaccine can be developed. Researchers are endeavoring to find antiviral
therapies specific to the virus. As the condition is an emerging, rapidly evolving situation and
development of new drugs is a long process, and is unfeasible to face the immediate global challenge.
Strategy to reposition the previously used drugs can prove to be effective to combat this difficult
to treat pandemic. Several drugs such as Hydroxychloroquine, Umifenovir, Remdesivir, Lopinavir/
Ritonavir, interferon, Darunavir, Favipiravir, Nitazoxanide, etc. are currently undergoing clinical
studies to test the safety and efficacy of the drug against this pandemic. The present review
gives a snapshot look at the current clinical experience with repurposed antiviral drugs.
