How to Discover Antiviral Drugs Quickly

Type Journal Article Author Jerry M. Parks Author Jeremy C. Smith URL https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMcibr2007042 Volume 382 Issue 23 Pages 2261-2264 Publication The New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) ISSN 0028-4793 Date 20/05/2020 Extra Publisher: Massachusetts Medical Society _eprint: https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMcibr2007042 PMID: 32433861 DOI 10.1056/NEJMcibr2007042 Accessed 2020-07-05 14:31:45 Library Catalog Taylor and Francis+NEJM Abstract We urgently need effective drugs for coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19), but what is the quickest way to find them? One approach that sometimes seems akin to a “Hail Mary” pass in American football is to hope that drugs that have worked against a different virus (such as hepatitis C or Ebola) will also work against Covid-19. Alternatively, we can be rational and specifically target proteins of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) so as to interrupt its life cycle.