Preclinical characterization and anti-SARS-CoV-2 efficacy of ATV014: an oral cyclohexanecarboxylate prodrug of 1′-CN-4-aza-7,9-dideazaadenosine C-nucleoside
Qifan Zhou, Sidi Yang, Liu Cao, Yang Yang, Tiefeng Xu, Qishu Chen, Hongzhou Lu, Yingjun Li, Deyin Guo, Xumu Zhang
Abstract
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the causative agent of the global pandemic coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), has proven itself to be a highly virulent respiratory pathogen with an unpredictable evolutionary capacity, posing a persistent threat to mankind. At the time of this manuscript’s publication, the dominant Omicron variant is characterized by significantly greater infectivity, and the emerging subvariants substantially display escaping neutralization induced by both vaccination and previous infection, raising the risk of vaccine breakthrough or reinfection. 1 Therefore, oral directly-acting antiviral drugs are desperately needed as countermeasures to reduce viral transmission and the risk of disease progression to critical illness or death.