Updates on the Current Antivirals Therapy for the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Mini-Review

Mahmoud Radwan; Aymen Elsous; Rizwana Hussain

doi:doi:10.11648/j.ajlm.20200506.12

| Peer-Reviewed

Updates on the Current Antivirals Therapy for the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Mini-Review

Mahmoud Radwan, Aymen Elsous, Rizwana Hussain

Published in American Journal of Laboratory Medicine (Volume 5, Issue 6)

Received: 22 October 2020 Accepted: 6 November 2020 Published: 19 November 2020

Views: Downloads:

Download PDF

Share This Article

Twitter
Linked In
Facebook

Abstract

Background: The Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has been recognized as a global public health threat and announced as a pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO). In the absence of vaccine development for the COVID-19, one of the most common and currently implemented ways to combat the COVID-19 is to test the currently used antivirals through vitro and vivo trials. Objective: This mini-review aims at reviewing the latest available evidence on the potentially effective and safe antiviral drugs that can be used for controlling the COVID-19. Methods: Three databases (PubMed, Google Scholar, and Cochrane) were rapidly searched from 30 March to 2^nd of October 2020 on studies reporting clinical outcomes of antivirals against SARS, MERS, or COVID-19. Findings/Conclusion: Currently, many antivirals that have been used with previous infectious diseases, are being used to treat the COVID-19 infection. Most of the observational studies and the RCTs have provided mixed or confusing findings. Due to the lack of reliable evidence from Randomized Controlled Trials (RCTs), no effective antiviral drug proved its efficacy and safety against the COVID-19. This rapid review focuses mainly on the latest findings of the most common used antivirals, hoping to continue the next reviews once we have stronger published RCTs based evidence.

Published in	American Journal of Laboratory Medicine (Volume 5, Issue 6)
DOI	10.11648/j.ajlm.20200506.12
Page(s)	162-166
Creative Commons	This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright	Copyright © The Author(s), 2020. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

SARS-CoV-2, Pandemic, Antiviral, Corona Virus, Clinical Trial

References

[1]	Wu, Z. and J. M. McGoogan, Characteristics of and Important Lessons From the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Outbreak in China: Summary of a Report of 72 314 Cases From the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Jama, 2020.
[2]	WHO. Coronavirus disease (COVID-19), Situation Report. 2020 [cited 2020 30th June]; Available from: https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/situation-reports.
[3]	Wang, M., et al., Remdesivir and chloroquine effectively inhibit the recently emerged novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) in vitro. 2020. 30 (3): p. 269-271.
[4]	Liu, J., et al., Hydroxychloroquine, a less toxic derivative of chloroquine, is effective in inhibiting SARS-CoV-2 infection in vitro. 2020. 6: p. 16.
[5]	Zhang, J., et al., Therapeutic and triage strategies for 2019 novel coronavirus disease in fever clinics. Lancet Respir Med, 2020. 8 (3): p. e11-e12.
[6]	Zhu, R.-f., et al., Systematic Review of the Registered Clinical Trials of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). medRxiv, 2020: p. 2020.03.01.20029611.
[7]	Siegel, D., et al., Discovery and Synthesis of a Phosphoramidate Prodrug of a Pyrrolo[2,1-f][triazin-4-amino] Adenine C-Nucleoside (GS-5734) for the Treatment of Ebola and Emerging Viruses. Journal of Medicinal Chemistry, 2017. 60 (5): p. 1648-1661.
[8]	Brown, A. J., et al., Broad spectrum antiviral remdesivir inhibits human endemic and zoonotic deltacoronaviruses with a highly divergent RNA dependent RNA polymerase. Antiviral Res, 2019. 169: p. 104541.
[9]	Agostini, M. L., et al., Coronavirus Susceptibility to the Antiviral Remdesivir (GS-5734) Is Mediated by the Viral Polymerase and the Proofreading Exoribonuclease. mBio, 2018. 9 (2): p. e00221-18.
[10]	Ko, W.-C., et al., Arguments in favour of remdesivir for treating SARS-CoV-2 infections. International journal of antimicrobial agents, 2020. 55 (4): p. 105933-105933.
[11]	Kujawski, S. A., et al., First 12 patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in the United States. medRxiv, 2020: p. 2020.03.09.20032896.
[12]	Grein, J., et al., Compassionate Use of Remdesivir for Patients with Severe Covid-19. 2020. 382 (24): p. 2327-2336.
[13]	Wang, Y., et al., Remdesivir in adults with severe COVID-19: a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled, multicentre trial. Lancet, 2020. 395 (10236): p. 1569-1578.
[14]	Beigel, J. H., et al., Remdesivir for the Treatment of Covid-19 - Preliminary Report. 2020.
[15]	Schrezenmeier, E. and T. Dörner, Mechanisms of action of hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine: implications for rheumatology. 2020. 16 (3): p. 155-166.
[16]	Devaux, C. A., et al., New insights on the antiviral effects of chloroquine against coronavirus: what to expect for COVID-19? Int J Antimicrob Agents, 2020. 55 (5): p. 105938.
[17]	Zhou, P., et al., A pneumonia outbreak associated with a new coronavirus of probable bat origin. Nature, 2020. 579 (7798): p. 270-273.
[18]	Barnard, D. L., et al., Evaluation of immunomodulators, interferons and known in vitro SARS-coV inhibitors for inhibition of SARS-coV replication in BALB/c mice. Antivir Chem Chemother, 2006. 17 (5): p. 275-84.
[19]	Tang, W., et al., Hydroxychloroquine in patients mainly with mild to moderate COVID-19: an open-label, randomized, controlled trial. 2020, medRxiv.
[20]	Chen, J., et al., [A pilot study of hydroxychloroquine in treatment of patients with moderate COVID-19]. Zhejiang Da Xue Xue Bao Yi Xue Ban, 2020. 49 (2): p. 215-219.
[21]	Magagnoli, J., et al., Outcomes of Hydroxychloroquine Usage in United States Veterans Hospitalized with COVID-19. Med, 2020.
[22]	Pagliano, P., et al., Is Hydroxychloroquine a possible post-exposure prophylaxis drug to limit the transmission to health care workers exposed to COVID19? Clin Infect Dis, 2020.
[23]	Gao, J., Z. Tian, and X. Yang, Breakthrough: Chloroquine phosphate has shown apparent efficacy in treatment of COVID-19 associated pneumonia in clinical studies. Biosci Trends, 2020. 14 (1): p. 72-73.
[24]	Pathak, D. S. K., et al., No benefit of hydroxychloroquine in COVID-19: Results of Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials". Diabetes Metab Syndr, 2020. 14 (6): p. 1673-1680.
[25]	Fiolet, T., et al., Effect of hydroxychloroquine with or without azithromycin on the mortality of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Clin Microbiol Infect, 2020.
[26]	Potì, F., et al. Treatments for COVID-19: emerging drugs against the coronavirus. Acta bio-medica: Atenei Parmensis, 2020. 91, 118-136 DOI: 10.23750/abm.v91i2.9639.
[27]	Choy, K. T., et al., Remdesivir, lopinavir, emetine, and homoharringtonine inhibit SARS-CoV-2 replication in vitro. Antiviral Res, 2020. 178: p. 104786.
[28]	Chan, J. F., et al., Treatment With Lopinavir/Ritonavir or Interferon-β1b Improves Outcome of MERS-CoV Infection in a Nonhuman Primate Model of Common Marmoset. J Infect Dis, 2015. 212 (12): p. 1904-13.
[29]	Chan, K. S., et al., Treatment of severe acute respiratory syndrome with lopinavir/ritonavir: a multicentre retrospective matched cohort study. Hong Kong Med J, 2003. 9 (6): p. 399-406.
[30]	Cao, B., et al., A Trial of Lopinavir-Ritonavir in Adults Hospitalized with Severe Covid-19. N Engl J Med, 2020. 382 (19): p. 1787-1799.
[31]	Verdugo-Paiva, F., et al., Lopinavir-ritonavir for COVID-19: A living systematic review. Medwave, 2020. 20 (6): p. e7967.
[32]	Boriskin, Y. S., et al., Arbidol: a broad-spectrum antiviral compound that blocks viral fusion. Curr Med Chem, 2008. 15 (10): p. 997-1005.
[33]	Villalaín, J., Membranotropic effects of arbidol, a broad anti-viral molecule, on phospholipid model membranes. J Phys Chem B, 2010. 114 (25): p. 8544-54.
[34]	Dong, L., S. Hu, and J. Gao, Discovering drugs to treat coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Drug Discov Ther, 2020. 14 (1): p. 58-60.
[35]	Deng, L., et al., Arbidol combined with LPV/r versus LPV/r alone against Corona Virus Disease 2019: A retrospective cohort study. J Infect, 2020. 81 (1): p. e1-e5.
[36]	Wang, Z., et al., Clinical Features of 69 Cases with Coronavirus Disease 2019 in Wuhan, China. Clin Infect Dis, 2020.
[37]	Zhu, Z., et al., Arbidol monotherapy is superior to lopinavir/ritonavir in treating COVID-19. Journal of Infection, 2020. 81 (1): p. e21-e23.
[38]	Chen, W., et al., A study on clinical effect of Arbidol combined with adjuvant therapy on COVID-19. Journal of Medical Virology. n/a (n/a).
[39]	Huang, D., et al., Efficacy and safety of umifenovir for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19): A systematic review and meta-analysis. 2020.
[40]	Yousefi, B., et al., A global treatments for coronaviruses including COVID-19. Journal of Cellular Physiology. n/a (n/a).
[41]	Delang, L., R. Abdelnabi, and J. Neyts, Favipiravir as a potential countermeasure against neglected and emerging RNA viruses. Antiviral Res, 2018. 153: p. 85-94.
[42]	Chen, C., et al., Favipiravir versus Arbidol for COVID-19: A Randomized Clinical Trial. 2020, medRxiv.
[43]	Cai, Q., et al., Experimental Treatment with Favipiravir for COVID-19: An Open-Label Control Study. Engineering (Beijing), 2020.
[44]	Shrestha, D. B., et al., Favipiravir versus other antiviral or standard of care for COVID-19 treatment: a rapid systematic review and meta-analysis. Virology Journal, 2020. 17 (1): p. 141.
[45]	Martinez, M. A., Compounds with Therapeutic Potential against Novel Respiratory 2019 Coronavirus. Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, 2020. 64 (5): p. e00399-20.
[46]	Chan, J. F., et al., Broad-spectrum antivirals for the emerging Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus. J Infect, 2013. 67 (6): p. 606-16.
[47]	Hung, I. F., et al., Triple combination of interferon beta-1b, lopinavir-ritonavir, and ribavirin in the treatment of patients admitted to hospital with COVID-19: an open-label, randomised, phase 2 trial. Lancet, 2020. 395 (10238): p. 1695-1704.
[48]	Tong, S., et al., Ribavirin therapy for severe COVID-19: a retrospective cohort study. Int J Antimicrob Agents, 2020. 56 (3): p. 106114.

Cite This Article

Plain Text BibTeX RIS

APA Style

Mahmoud Radwan, Aymen Elsous, Rizwana Hussain. (2020). Updates on the Current Antivirals Therapy for the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Mini-Review. American Journal of Laboratory Medicine, 5(6), 162-166. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajlm.20200506.12

Copy | Download

ACS Style

Mahmoud Radwan; Aymen Elsous; Rizwana Hussain. Updates on the Current Antivirals Therapy for the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Mini-Review. Am. J. Lab. Med. 2020, 5(6), 162-166. doi: 10.11648/j.ajlm.20200506.12

Copy | Download

AMA Style

Mahmoud Radwan, Aymen Elsous, Rizwana Hussain. Updates on the Current Antivirals Therapy for the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Mini-Review. Am J Lab Med. 2020;5(6):162-166. doi: 10.11648/j.ajlm.20200506.12

Copy | Download

@article{10.11648/j.ajlm.20200506.12,
  author = {Mahmoud Radwan and Aymen Elsous and Rizwana Hussain},
  title = {Updates on the Current Antivirals Therapy for the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Mini-Review},
  journal = {American Journal of Laboratory Medicine},
  volume = {5},
  number = {6},
  pages = {162-166},
  doi = {10.11648/j.ajlm.20200506.12},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajlm.20200506.12},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ajlm.20200506.12},
  abstract = {Background: The Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has been recognized as a global public health threat and announced as a pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO). In the absence of vaccine development for the COVID-19, one of the most common and currently implemented ways to combat the COVID-19 is to test the currently used antivirals through vitro and vivo trials. Objective: This mini-review aims at reviewing the latest available evidence on the potentially effective and safe antiviral drugs that can be used for controlling the COVID-19. Methods: Three databases (PubMed, Google Scholar, and Cochrane) were rapidly searched from 30 March to 2nd of October 2020 on studies reporting clinical outcomes of antivirals against SARS, MERS, or COVID-19. Findings/Conclusion: Currently, many antivirals that have been used with previous infectious diseases, are being used to treat the COVID-19 infection. Most of the observational studies and the RCTs have provided mixed or confusing findings. Due to the lack of reliable evidence from Randomized Controlled Trials (RCTs), no effective antiviral drug proved its efficacy and safety against the COVID-19. This rapid review focuses mainly on the latest findings of the most common used antivirals, hoping to continue the next reviews once we have stronger published RCTs based evidence.},
 year = {2020}
}

Copy | Download

TY  - JOUR
T1  - Updates on the Current Antivirals Therapy for the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Mini-Review
AU  - Mahmoud Radwan
AU  - Aymen Elsous
AU  - Rizwana Hussain
Y1  - 2020/11/19
PY  - 2020
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajlm.20200506.12
DO  - 10.11648/j.ajlm.20200506.12
T2  - American Journal of Laboratory Medicine
JF  - American Journal of Laboratory Medicine
JO  - American Journal of Laboratory Medicine
SP  - 162
EP  - 166
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2575-386X
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajlm.20200506.12
AB  - Background: The Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has been recognized as a global public health threat and announced as a pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO). In the absence of vaccine development for the COVID-19, one of the most common and currently implemented ways to combat the COVID-19 is to test the currently used antivirals through vitro and vivo trials. Objective: This mini-review aims at reviewing the latest available evidence on the potentially effective and safe antiviral drugs that can be used for controlling the COVID-19. Methods: Three databases (PubMed, Google Scholar, and Cochrane) were rapidly searched from 30 March to 2nd of October 2020 on studies reporting clinical outcomes of antivirals against SARS, MERS, or COVID-19. Findings/Conclusion: Currently, many antivirals that have been used with previous infectious diseases, are being used to treat the COVID-19 infection. Most of the observational studies and the RCTs have provided mixed or confusing findings. Due to the lack of reliable evidence from Randomized Controlled Trials (RCTs), no effective antiviral drug proved its efficacy and safety against the COVID-19. This rapid review focuses mainly on the latest findings of the most common used antivirals, hoping to continue the next reviews once we have stronger published RCTs based evidence.
VL  - 5
IS  - 6
ER  -

Copy | Download

Author Information

Mahmoud Radwan

International Cooperation Department, Palestinian Ministry of Health, Gaza Strip, Palestine
Aymen Elsous

Faculty of Medical Science, Israa University, Gaza Strip, Palestine
Rizwana Hussain

Centre of Excellence in Women and Children, Agha Khan University, Abbottabad, Pakistan

Download PDF

Sections

Plain Text BibTeX RIS

APA Style

Mahmoud Radwan, Aymen Elsous, Rizwana Hussain. (2020). Updates on the Current Antivirals Therapy for the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Mini-Review. American Journal of Laboratory Medicine, 5(6), 162-166. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajlm.20200506.12

Copy | Download

ACS Style

Mahmoud Radwan; Aymen Elsous; Rizwana Hussain. Updates on the Current Antivirals Therapy for the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Mini-Review. Am. J. Lab. Med. 2020, 5(6), 162-166. doi: 10.11648/j.ajlm.20200506.12

Copy | Download

AMA Style

Mahmoud Radwan, Aymen Elsous, Rizwana Hussain. Updates on the Current Antivirals Therapy for the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Mini-Review. Am J Lab Med. 2020;5(6):162-166. doi: 10.11648/j.ajlm.20200506.12

Copy | Download

@article{10.11648/j.ajlm.20200506.12,
  author = {Mahmoud Radwan and Aymen Elsous and Rizwana Hussain},
  title = {Updates on the Current Antivirals Therapy for the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Mini-Review},
  journal = {American Journal of Laboratory Medicine},
  volume = {5},
  number = {6},
  pages = {162-166},
  doi = {10.11648/j.ajlm.20200506.12},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajlm.20200506.12},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ajlm.20200506.12},
  abstract = {Background: The Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has been recognized as a global public health threat and announced as a pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO). In the absence of vaccine development for the COVID-19, one of the most common and currently implemented ways to combat the COVID-19 is to test the currently used antivirals through vitro and vivo trials. Objective: This mini-review aims at reviewing the latest available evidence on the potentially effective and safe antiviral drugs that can be used for controlling the COVID-19. Methods: Three databases (PubMed, Google Scholar, and Cochrane) were rapidly searched from 30 March to 2nd of October 2020 on studies reporting clinical outcomes of antivirals against SARS, MERS, or COVID-19. Findings/Conclusion: Currently, many antivirals that have been used with previous infectious diseases, are being used to treat the COVID-19 infection. Most of the observational studies and the RCTs have provided mixed or confusing findings. Due to the lack of reliable evidence from Randomized Controlled Trials (RCTs), no effective antiviral drug proved its efficacy and safety against the COVID-19. This rapid review focuses mainly on the latest findings of the most common used antivirals, hoping to continue the next reviews once we have stronger published RCTs based evidence.},
 year = {2020}
}

Copy | Download

TY  - JOUR
T1  - Updates on the Current Antivirals Therapy for the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Mini-Review
AU  - Mahmoud Radwan
AU  - Aymen Elsous
AU  - Rizwana Hussain
Y1  - 2020/11/19
PY  - 2020
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajlm.20200506.12
DO  - 10.11648/j.ajlm.20200506.12
T2  - American Journal of Laboratory Medicine
JF  - American Journal of Laboratory Medicine
JO  - American Journal of Laboratory Medicine
SP  - 162
EP  - 166
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2575-386X
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajlm.20200506.12
AB  - Background: The Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has been recognized as a global public health threat and announced as a pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO). In the absence of vaccine development for the COVID-19, one of the most common and currently implemented ways to combat the COVID-19 is to test the currently used antivirals through vitro and vivo trials. Objective: This mini-review aims at reviewing the latest available evidence on the potentially effective and safe antiviral drugs that can be used for controlling the COVID-19. Methods: Three databases (PubMed, Google Scholar, and Cochrane) were rapidly searched from 30 March to 2nd of October 2020 on studies reporting clinical outcomes of antivirals against SARS, MERS, or COVID-19. Findings/Conclusion: Currently, many antivirals that have been used with previous infectious diseases, are being used to treat the COVID-19 infection. Most of the observational studies and the RCTs have provided mixed or confusing findings. Due to the lack of reliable evidence from Randomized Controlled Trials (RCTs), no effective antiviral drug proved its efficacy and safety against the COVID-19. This rapid review focuses mainly on the latest findings of the most common used antivirals, hoping to continue the next reviews once we have stronger published RCTs based evidence.
VL  - 5
IS  - 6
ER  -

Copy | Download