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Updated: Dec 7, 2025
Early Viral Entry Assays for the Identification and Evaluation of Antiviral Compounds
Published on: October 29, 2015
COVID-19: Antiviral Agents, Antibody Development and Traditional Chinese Medicine
Wenyi Guan1, Wendong Lan1, Jing Zhang2
1Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Tropical Disease Research, School of Public Health, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, 510515, China.
Insights
The World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a pandemic. This review highlights promising therapeutic drugs, including antivirals and traditional Chinese medicine, for treating severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2).
Area of Science:
- Virology
- Pharmacology
- Immunology
Background:
- Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), caused by SARS-CoV-2, is a global pandemic.
- No universally approved antiviral drugs are currently available for COVID-19 treatment.
- Urgent need for effective therapeutic options to manage the COVID-19 outbreak.
Purpose of the Study:
- To provide an overview of globally promising therapeutic drugs for COVID-19.
- To accelerate the development of effective treatments for SARS-CoV-2 infections.
- To focus on drugs entering late-stage clinical trials (Phase III-IV).
Main Methods:
- Review of existing antiviral agents for repurposing.
- Analysis of network-based pharmacology research.
- Evaluation of antibody development and traditional Chinese medicine efficacy.
Main Results:
- Identified several promising therapeutic candidates for COVID-19.
- Highlighted drugs such as favipiravir, tocilizumab, and remdesivir.
- Included SARS-CoV-2 convalescent plasma, hydroxychloroquine, and Lianhua Qingwen.
Conclusions:
- Multiple therapeutic strategies show promise for combating COVID-19.
- Continued research and clinical trials are crucial for drug approval.
- A combination of approaches, including repurposed drugs and novel therapies, is essential.
Abstract:
The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is the first pandemic caused by coronavirus named severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Currently, there is no effective anti-SARS-CoV-2 drug approved worldwide for treatment of patients with COVID-19. Therapeutic options in response to the COVID-19 outbreak are urgently needed. To facilitate the better and faster development of therapeutic COVID-19 drugs, we present an overview of the global promising therapeutic drugs, including repurposing existing antiviral agents, network-based pharmacology research, antibody development and traditional Chinese medicine. Among all these drugs, we focus on the most promising drugs (such as favipiravir, tocilizumab, SARS-CoV-2 convalescent plasma, hydroxychloroquine, Lianhua Qingwen, interferon beta-1a, remdesivir, etc.) that have or will enter the final stage of human testing-phase III-IV clinical trials.
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