The Current Status and Challenges in the Development of Vaccines and Drugs against Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome‐Corona Virus‐2 (SARS‐CoV‐2)
Narasimha M. Beeraka, SubbaRao V. Tulimilli, Medha Karnik, Surya Prabha Sadhu, Rajeswara Rao Pragada, Gjumrakch Aliev, SubbaRao V. Madhunapantula
Abstract
Severe acute respiratory syndrome-coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection causes coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19), which is characterized by clinical manifestations such as pneumonia, lymphopenia, severe acute respiratory distress, and cytokine storm. S glycoprotein of SARS-CoV-2 binds to angiotensin-converting enzyme II (ACE-II) to enter into the lungs through membrane proteases consequently inflicting the extensive viral load through rapid replication mechanisms. Despite several research efforts, challenges in COVID-19 management still persist at various levels that include (a) availability of a low cost and rapid self-screening test, (b) lack of an effective vaccine which works against multiple variants of SARS-CoV-2, and (c) lack of a potent drug that can reduce the complications of COVID-19. The development of vaccines against SARS-CoV-2 is a complicated process due to the emergence of mutant variants with greater virulence and their ability to invoke intricate lung pathophysiology. Moreover, the lack of a thorough understanding about the virus transmission mechanisms and complete pathogenesis of SARS-CoV-2 is making it hard for medical scientists to develop a better strategy to prevent the spread of the virus and design a clinically viable vaccine to protect individuals from being infected. A recent report has tested the hypothesis of T cell immunity and found effective when compared to the antibody response in agammaglobulinemic patients. Understanding SARS-CoV-2-induced changes such as "Th-2 immunopathological variations, mononuclear cell & eosinophil infiltration of the lung and antibody-dependent enhancement (ADE)" in COVID-19 patients provides key insights to develop potential therapeutic interventions for immediate clinical management. Therefore, in this review, we have described the details of rapid detection methods of SARS-CoV-2 using molecular and serological tests and addressed different therapeutic modalities used for the treatment of COVID-19 patients. In addition, the current challenges against the development of vaccines for SARS-CoV-2 are also briefly described in this article.