Antiviral options against SARS-CoV-2 infection

Ianevski, A.; Yao, R.; Fenstad, M. H.; Biza, S.; Zusinaite, E.; Lysvand, H.; Loeseth, K.; Lamndsem, V. M.; Malmring, J. F.; Oksenych, V.; Erlandsen, S. E.; Aas, P. A.; Hagen, L.; Pettersen, C. H.; Afset, J. E.; Nordbo, S. A.; Bjoras, M.; Kainov, D. E.

doi:10.1101/2020.05.12.091165

bioRxiv · 10.1101/2020.05.12.091165

Antiviral options against SARS-CoV-2 infection

Ianevski, A.·Yao, R.·Fenstad, M. H.·Biza, S.·Zusinaite, E.·Lysvand, H.·Loeseth, K.·Lamndsem, V. M.·Malmring, J. F.·Oksenych, V.·Erlandsen, S. E.·Aas, P. A.·Hagen, L.·Pettersen, C. H.·Afset, J. E.·Nordbo, S. A.·Bjoras, M.·Kainov, D. E.

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Abstract

As of June 2020, the number of people infected with severe acute respiratory coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) continues to skyrocket, with more than 6,5 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 most potent sera from recovered patients for treatment of SARS-CoV-2-infected patients. We also screened 136 safe-in-man broad-spectrum antivirals against SARS-CoV-2 infection in Vero-E6 cells and identified nelfinavir, salinomycin, amodiaquine, obatoclax, emetine and homoharringtonine. We found that combinations of virus-directed nelfinavir along with 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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Ianevski, A., Yao, R., Fenstad, M. H., Biza, S., Zusinaite, E., Lysvand, H., Loeseth, K., Lamndsem, V. M., Malmring, J. F., Oksenych, V., Erlandsen, S. E., Aas, P. A., Hagen, L., Pettersen, C. H., Afset, J. E., Nordbo, S. A., Bjoras, M., Kainov, D. E.. 2020-05-12. Antiviral options against SARS-CoV-2 infection. https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.05.12.091165

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