Repurposed drugs and their progression against COVID-19

Abstract

Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS‐CoV‐2) is the causative agent of COVID-19 (Coronavirus disease), which was initially noticed in the seafood market at Wuhan, Hubei Province, China. Since then this deadly virus has outspread like wildfire across the globe and has put all the healthcare services at red alert. The outburst of COVID-19 has already taken the shape of the pandemic, affecting more than 200 countries in just a few months. A global response to prepare our health systems is very much imperative and the whole world is desperate to find ways to tackle this pandemic by developing effective treatments. Unfortunately, no reliable therapeutic interventions are available currently for critically affected ill COVID‐19 patients. Treatment of COVID-19 patients is mainly based on symptomatic management. Emerging clinical trials and research data representing the structural and functional aspects of SARS-CoV-2 suggests testing of the repurposed drugs ranging from flu treatments to failed ebola drugs, to anti-malarial drugs that were first developed decades ago. The review focuses on the various already adopted and ongoing trials to date for developing effective therapeutic strategies to combat this viral outbreak. We hope that the accumulated information about various repositioning trials will help the international research community to lead potential clinical practices and to find solutions for COVID-19 treatment in this need of the hour.