There are a big number of studies focusing on new treatments for COVID-19, including existing drugs that are being trialed. Some progress has been made, too.
In a new study, researchers announced promising results for the fight against the coronavirus.
They found an already registered drug used to treat osteoporosis, Raloxifene, could be an effective treatment for COVID-19 patients with mild infection.
The research was conducted by a team in Germany, Spain, and Italy, and elsewhere.
The team uses a unique combination of high-performance computing power and AI with biological processing to find potential COVID-19 treatments.
They tested already virtually tested 400 000 molecules using the supercomputers. 7 000 molecules were preselected and further tested ‘in vitro’.
Drug Raloxifene emerged as a promising molecule: according to the team, it could be effective in blocking the replication of the virus in cells, and could thus hold up the progression of the disease.
In addition, Raloxifene is well-tolerated with a known safety profile.
The researchers hope that in the next phase, they will enlarge the current tests, taking into account an extended library of 5 million molecules out of 500 billion in its chemical library.
These massive virtual screening activities will be supported and empowered by three of the most powerful computer centers in Europe.
The study is can be found here.
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