While COVID-19 has infected millions of people worldwide and killed hundreds of thousands, there is currently no vaccine.
In response, researchers have been evaluating the effectiveness of various antiviral drugs as possible COVID-19 treatments.
In a new study, researchers have found that four antiviral drugs, including remdesivir, a drug originally developed to treat Ebola, are effective in inhibiting the replication of the coronavirus causing COVID-19.
The research was conducted by a team at the University of Missouri.
The team used computer-aided drug design to examine the effectiveness of remdesivir, 5-fluorouracil, ribavirin, and favipiravir in treating COVID-19.
They found that all four drugs were effective in inhibiting, or blocking, the coronavirus’ RNA proteins from making genomic copies of the virus.
The team says these antiviral drugs, if they turn out to be effective, all have some limitations.
But in the midst of a global pandemic, they are worth taking a deeper look at because based on our research, people have reason to believe that all of these drugs could potentially be effective in treating COVID-19.
The coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) that causes COVID-19, like all viruses, can mutate and develop resistance to antiviral drugs.
Therefore, further testing in a laboratory setting and in patients is needed to better evaluate how the proposed treatments interact with the virus’ RNA polymerase.
The lead author of the study is Kamlendra Singh, an associate professor in the College of Veterinary Medicine.
The study is published in Pathogens.
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