Researchers identify three drugs as possible therapeutics for COVID-19


Date:
November 18, 2020
Source:
University of Tennessee Health Science Center
Summary:
Researchers have identified three drugs, already approved for
other uses in humans, as possible therapeutics for COVID-19,
the illness caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus.



FULL STORY ========================================================================== Researchers at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center working
with colleagues at the University of New Mexico have identified three
drugs, already approved for other uses in humans, as possible therapeutics
for COVID-19, the illness caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus.


========================================================================== Based on virtual and in vitro antiviral screening that began in the
earlier months of the COVID-19 pandemic, the researchers led at UTHSC
by Colleen Jonsson, PhD, identified zuclopenthixol, nebivolol, and
amodiaquine as promising therapeutics for the virus in its early stages.

Dr. Jonsson is a professor and the Endowed Van Vleet Chair of Excellence
in Virology in the College of Medicine at UTHSC. She also directs the
UTHSC Regional Biocontainment Laboratory (RBL), where this research
was conducted.

The university's RBL is one of roughly a dozen federally funded labs
authorized to safely study contagious pathogens.

In a paper published in ACS Pharmacology & Translational Science, the researchers propose the drugs as possible candidates for testing in future clinical trials to improve immune response to the virus. Amodiaquine is
an older antimalarial, zuclopenthixol is an antipsychotic, and nebivolol
is a blood pressure medication.

"Particularly in the context of this pandemic, there is a stringent
need for high-quality studies that can provide critical knowledge
concerning the COVID- 19 disease and reliable treatment proposals," the
paper states. "With these caveats in mind, we conceived a computational workflow that included independent in vitro validation, followed by
assessing emerging candidates in the context of available clinical
pharmacology data with the aim of proposing suitable candidates for
clinical studies for early stage (incubation and symptomatic phases)
patients infected by SARS-CoV-2." "Given the need for improved efficacy
and safety, we propose zuclopenthixol, nebivolol, and amodiaquine as
potential candidates for clinical trials against the early phase of the SARS-CoV-2 infection," the researchers wrote.

Comparing the drugs to hydroxychloroquine, the anti-malarial drug most- frequently studied in clinical trials for use as a COVID-19 therapeutic,
the researchers examined 4,000 approved drugs and found these three
to act similarly to the hydroxychloroquine, and in some cases, more
safely. The research indicates they may also improve efficacy when
combined in lower doses with remdesivir, an anti-viral given an emergency
use authorization by the United States Food and Drug Administration as
a therapeutic for COVID-19.

"Think of it as a whack-a-mole game," said Tudor Oprea, MD, PhD,
professor of Medicine and Pharmaceutical Sciences, chief of the UNM
Division of Translational Informatics, and corresponding author on the
paper. "Instead of having one hammer, you have two hammers, which is more effective. We're trying to give the scientific community two hammers,
instead of one." Dr. Jonsson added, "This is a very exciting discovery
and we are following up on the potential use of zuclopenthixol, nebivolol,
and amodiaquine in additional research studies."

========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by University_of_Tennessee_Health_Science_Center. Original written by Peggy Reisser. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Giovanni Bocci, Steven B. Bradfute, Chunyan Ye, Matthew J. Garcia,
Jyothi
Parvathareddy, Walter Reichard, Surekha Surendranathan, Shruti
Bansal, Cristian G. Bologa, Douglas J. Perkins, Colleen B. Jonsson,
Larry A.

Sklar, Tudor I. Oprea. Virtual and In Vitro Antiviral Screening
Revive Therapeutic Drugs for COVID-19. ACS Pharmacology &
Translational Science, 2020; DOI: 10.1021/acsptsci.0c00131 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/11/201118161127.htm

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