COVID-19 and the promise of small molecule therapeutics: Are there lessons to be learnt?

Pharmacol Res

Department of Pharmacy, National University of Singapore, 18 Science Drive 4, Singapore 117543, Singapore. Electronic address:

Published: May 2022

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic had grounded the world to a standstill. As the disease continues to rage two years on, it is apparent that effective therapeutics are critical for a successful endemic living with COVID-19. A dearth in suitable antivirals has prompted researchers and healthcare professionals to investigate existing and developmental drugs against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Although some of these drugs initially appeared to be promising for the treatment of COVID-19, they were ultimately found to be ineffective. In this review, we provide a retrospective analysis on the merits and limitations of some of these drugs that were tested against SARS-CoV-2 as well as those used for adjuvant therapy. While many of these drugs are no longer part of our arsenal for the treatment of COVID-19, important lessons can be learnt. The recent inclusion of molnupiravir and Paxlovid™ as treatment options for COVID-19 represent our best hope to date for endemic living with COVID-19. Our viewpoints on these two drugs and their prospects as current and future antiviral agents will also be provided.

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Source
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8970615PMC
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.phrs.2022.106201DOI Listing

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