Potential Antiviral Options against SARS-CoV-2 Infection
antivirals, broad-spectrum antivirals, antiviral drug combinations
As of June 2020, the number of people infected with severe acute respiratory coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) continues to skyrocket, with more than 6.7 million cases worldwide. Both the World Health Organization (WHO) and United Nations (UN) has highlighted the need for better control of SARS-CoV-2 infections. However, developing novel virus-specific vaccines, monoclonal antibodies and antiviral drugs against SARS-CoV-2 can be time-consuming and costly. Convalescent sera and safe-in-man broad-spectrum antivirals (BSAAs) are readily available treatment options. Here, we developed a neutralization assay using SARS-CoV-2 strain and Vero-E6 cells. We identified the most potent sera from recovered patients for the treatment of SARS-CoV-2-infected patients. We also screened 136 safe-in-man broad-spectrum antivirals against the SARS-CoV-2 infection in Vero-E6 cells and identified nelfinavir, salinomycin, amodiaquine, obatoclax, emetine and homoharringtonine. We found that a combination of orally available virus-directed nelfinavir and host-directed amodiaquine exhibited the highest synergy. Finally, we developed a website to disseminate the knowledge on available and emerging treatments of COVID-19.
Aleksandr Ianevski, Magnar Bjoras, Denis E. Kainov, Eva Zusinaite, Tanel Tenson, Valentyn Oksenych, Hilde Lysvand, Rouan Yao, Mona Høysæter Fenstad, Svetlana Biza, Tuuli Reisberg, Kirsti Løseth, Veslemøy Malm Landsem, Janne Fossum Malmring, Sten Even Erlandsen, Per Arne Aas, Lars Hagen, Caroline H. Pettersen, Jan Egil Afset, Svein Arne Nordbø