Current and Future Direct-Acting Antivirals Against COVID-19

• Main Author: Shiu-Wan Chan
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Frontiers Media S.A. 2020-11-01
• Series: Frontiers in Microbiology
• Subjects: COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; direct-acting antivirals; RdRp; proteases; spike
• Online Access: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2020.587944/full

The coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19) has caused an unprecedented global crisis. The etiological agent is a new virus called the severe acute respiratory syndrome-coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2). As of October, 2020 there have been 45.4 million confirmed cases with a mortality rate of 2.6% globally. With the lack of a vaccine and effective treatments, the race is on to find a cure for the virus infection using specific antivirals. The viral RNA-dependent RNA polymerase, proteases, spike protein-host angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 binding and fusion have presented as attractive targets for pan-coronavirus and broad spectrum direct-acting antivirals (DAAs). This review presents a perspective on current re-purposing treatments and future DAAs.