Therapeutic targets and potential agents for the treatment of COVID‐19
Yinuo Wu, Zhe Li, Yun‐Song Zhao, Yi‐You Huang, Mei‐Yan Jiang, Hai‐Bin Luo
Abstract
Abstract The outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19), which is caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‐CoV‐2) infection, has become a global crisis. As of November 9, COVID‐19 has already spread to more than 190 countries with 50,000,000 infections and 1,250,000 deaths. Effective therapeutics and drugs are in high demand. The structure of SARS‐CoV‐2 is highly conserved with those of SARS‐CoV and Middle East respiratory syndrome‐CoV. Enzymes, including RdRp, M pro /3CL pro , and PL pro , which play important roles in viral transcription and replication, have been regarded as key targets for therapies against coronaviruses, including SARS‐CoV‐2. The identification of readily available drugs for repositioning in COVID‐19 therapy is a relatively rapid approach for clinical treatment, and a series of approved or candidate drugs have been proven to be efficient against COVID‐19 in preclinical or clinical studies. This review summarizes recent progress in the development of drugs against SARS‐CoV‐2 and the targets involved.