Current status and countermeasures for development of drugs to treat coronavirus disease 2019

Abstract

Since the outbreak of the epidemic caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), or 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) provisionally, many research institutions at home and abroad have involved in the research and development (R & D) of drugs against coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). At present, the strategy of new use of old drugs is used to screen candidate drugs which inhibit the virus or excessive immune response, and the related researches have made important progress. This article reviewed current status of development and clinical application of those drugs which have been included in the diagnosis of novel coronavirus-infected pneumonia and treatment protocols which have been shown to inhibit the virus in vitro. In addition, we have following suggestions for future researches on the development of novel drugs against COVID-19: ① from "new use of old drugs" strategy to innovative drug R & D; ② building reliable models for screening drugs in vitro and in vivo; ③establishing a synergistic innovation mechanism for drug R & D against COVID-19; ④conducting clinical trials of the drugs in order; ⑤ establishing a long-term mechanism for drug R & D against COVID-19.

Keywords

• severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2
• coronavirus disease 2019
• therapeutic drug
• drug
• development