Overview of Antiviral Drug Therapy for COVID-19: Where Do We Stand?

• Published in: Biomedicines Vol. 10; no. 11; p. 2815
• Main Authors: Esposito, Renata, Mirra, Davida, Sportiello, Liberata, Spaziano, Giuseppe, D'Agostino, Bruno
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 04.11.2022; MDPI
• Subjects: Antiviral activity; Antiviral agents; antiviral drugs; approved drugs; Clinical trials; Contraindications; Coronaviruses; COVID-19; COVID-19 vaccines; Cytokines; Disease transmission; Drug resistance; Drug therapy; Drugs; Emergency medical care; FDA approval; Hospitalization; immune system; Infections; Medical research; Monoclonal antibodies; Mortality; Mutation; natural agents; Natural products; Outbreaks; Pandemics; Phenotypes; Proteins; Public health; Review; RNA polymerase; Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2; Vaccination; United States; COVID-19; antiviral drugs; immune system; natural agents; approved drugs
• ISSN: 2227-9059; 2227-9059
• DOI: 10.3390/biomedicines10112815

The vaccine weapon has resulted in being essential in fighting the COVID-19 outbreak, but it is not fully preventing infection due to an alarming spreading of several identified variants of concern. In fact, the recent emergence of variants has pointed out how the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic still represents a global health threat. Moreover, oral antivirals also develop resistance, supporting the need to find new targets as therapeutic tools. However, cocktail therapy is useful to reduce drug resistance and maximize vaccination efficacy. Natural products and metal-drug-based treatments have also shown interesting antiviral activity, representing a valid contribution to counter COVID-19 outbreak. This report summarizes the available evidence which supports the use of approved drugs and further focuses on significant clinical trials that have investigated the safety and efficacy of repurposing drugs and new molecules in different COVID-19 phenotypes. To date, there are many individuals vulnerable to COVID-19 exhibiting severe symptoms, thus characterizing valid therapeutic strategies for better management of the disease is still a challenge.