Viruses (Jun 2020)

Potential Antiviral Options against SARS-CoV-2 Infection

  • Aleksandr Ianevski,
  • Rouan Yao,
  • Mona Høysæter Fenstad,
  • Svetlana Biza,
  • Eva Zusinaite,
  • Tuuli Reisberg,
  • Hilde Lysvand,
  • Kirsti Løseth,
  • Veslemøy Malm Landsem,
  • Janne Fossum Malmring,
  • Valentyn Oksenych,
  • Sten Even Erlandsen,
  • Per Arne Aas,
  • Lars Hagen,
  • Caroline H. Pettersen,
  • Tanel Tenson,
  • Jan Egil Afset,
  • Svein Arne Nordbø,
  • Magnar Bjørås,
  • Denis E. Kainov

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3390/v12060642
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 12, no. 6
p. 642

Abstract

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As of June 2020, the number of people infected with severe acute respiratory coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) continues to skyrocket, with more than 6.7 million cases worldwide. Both the World Health Organization (WHO) and United Nations (UN) has highlighted the need for better control of SARS-CoV-2 infections. However, developing novel virus-specific vaccines, monoclonal antibodies and antiviral drugs against SARS-CoV-2 can be time-consuming and costly. Convalescent sera and safe-in-man broad-spectrum antivirals (BSAAs) are readily available treatment options. Here, we developed a neutralization assay using SARS-CoV-2 strain and Vero-E6 cells. We identified the most potent sera from recovered patients for the treatment of SARS-CoV-2-infected patients. We also screened 136 safe-in-man broad-spectrum antivirals against the SARS-CoV-2 infection in Vero-E6 cells and identified nelfinavir, salinomycin, amodiaquine, obatoclax, emetine and homoharringtonine. We found that a combination of orally available virus-directed nelfinavir and host-directed amodiaquine exhibited the highest synergy. Finally, we developed a website to disseminate the knowledge on available and emerging treatments of COVID-19.

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