PHARMACOLOGICAL APPROACHES TO SARS-CoV-2 INFECTION: FROM DRUG REPOSITIONING FOR COVID-19 TREATMENT TO DISEASE ARREST/PREVENTION WITH MoAbs AND NOVEL ANTIVIRALS

Abstract

COVID-19 disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is one of the major emergencies that have affected health care systems and society in recent decades. At the end of winter 2021-2022, the number of patients infected with SARS-CoV-2 and especially those suffering from severe COVID-19 is decreasing in Europe. This is due to the protective effect of anti-SARS-CoV-2 vaccines and the increasing number of people who had COVID-19, thus developing a certain immunity. However, vaccines to prevent the disease did not appear until more than one year after the emergence of SARS-CoV-2, so the initial medical approaches to control the disease focused on the existing drugs that were considered suitable for controlling the pathological events caused by the virus as far as was known at the time. Unfortunately, due in part to the limited initial knowledge of the molecular details of the pathology of COVID-19, many of the proposed drugs fell short of expectations and were abandoned. Over time, the challenge of understanding the mechanisms behind COVID-19 has generated a large body of knowledge about how this beta-coronavirus gains control of the host during infection, a knowledge that has been used to redefine treatment strategies by repurposing existing drugs and to explore new drugs. Here, we draw a picture of the major strategies and groups of drugs studied and provide a critical overview of their efficacy and safety based on the available literature data. The main topics covered are repurposed drugs, anticoagulants, anti-cytokine agents, monoclonal antibodies against SARS-CoV-2, and small antiviral molecules. Impact statementThe impact of the review is to collect together successes and failures in the use of drugs to treat COVID-19, the reasons for the repositioned drugs and the corresponding responses of the relevant clinical trials as well as the responses to new monoclonal antibodies and antiviral drugs.

Inflammation is at the root of all non-communicable diseases

“…The same line of reasoning holds true for neurodegeneration and its sequelae (7). In recent times, much of the mortality associated with Covid 19 is due to a 'cytokine storm' and anti-inflammatory therapy is being proven useful (8). From a pharmacological point of view, it is interesting to note that acute inflammation is quite manageable with the available drugs, be they NSAIDs or corticosteroids.…”