Current Trends and Future Approaches in Small-Molecule Therapeutics for COVID-19

Title:Current Trends and Future Approaches in Small-Molecule Therapeutics for COVID-19

Volume: 28 Issue: 19

Author(s): Mark Laws, Yasmin M. Surani, Md. Mahbub Hasan, Yiyuan Chen, Peiqin Jin, Taha Al-Adhami, Madiha Chowdhury, Aqeel Imran, Ioannis Psaltis, Shirin Jamshidi, Kazi S. Nahar and Khondaker Miraz Rahman*

Affiliation:

• Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, School of Cancer and Pharmaceutical Sciences, King’s College London, Franklin-Wilkins Building, 150 Stamford Street, London SE1 9NH,United Kingdom

Keywords: COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2, coronavirus, drug discovery, small-molecule therapeutics, clinical trials.

Abstract: The novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic has created a global public health emergency. The pandemic is causing substantial morbidity, mortality and significant economic loss. Currently, no approved treatments for COVID-19 are available, and it is likely to takes at least 12-18 months to develop a new vaccine. Therefore, there is an urgent need to find new therapeutics that can be progressed to clinical development as soon as possible. Repurposing regulatory agency-approved drugs and experimental drugs with known safety profiles can provide important repositories of compounds that can be fast-tracked to clinical development. Globally, over 500 clinical trials involving repurposed drugs have been registered, and over 150 have been initiated, including some backed by the World Health Organisation (WHO). This review is intended as a guide to research into small-molecule therapies to treat COVID-19; it discusses the SARS-CoV-2 infection cycle and identifies promising viral therapeutic targets, reports on a number of promising pre-approved small-molecule drugs with reference to over 150 clinical trials worldwide, and offers a perspective on the future of the field.

Cite this article as:

Laws Mark , Surani M. Yasmin , Hasan Mahbub Md. , Chen Yiyuan , Jin Peiqin , Al-Adhami Taha , Chowdhury Madiha , Imran Aqeel , Psaltis Ioannis , Jamshidi Shirin , Nahar S. Kazi and Rahman Miraz Khondaker *, Current Trends and Future Approaches in Small-Molecule Therapeutics for COVID-19, Current Medicinal Chemistry 2021; 28(19) . https://dx.doi.org/10.2174/0929867327666200721161840