Clinical Trials of Repurposed Antivirals for SARS-CoV-2

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), has prompted the repurposing of drugs on the basis of promising in vitro and therapeutic results with other human coronavirus diseases, such as severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS). These repurposed drugs have mainly included remdesivir, favipiravir, lopinavir-ritonavir, ribavirin, interferons, and hydroxychloroquine. Unfortunately, the first open-label, randomized, controlled trials are showing poor efficacy of these repurposed drugs. These results highlight the necessity of identifying and characterizing specific and potent SARS-CoV-2 antivirals.