Faldaprevir for COVID-19

Respiratory viral infections (VRTIs) rank among the leading causes of global morbidity and mortality, affecting millions of individuals each year across all age groups. These infections are caused by various pathogens, including rhinoviruses (RVs), adenoviruses (AdVs), and coronaviruses (CoVs), which are particularly prevalent during colder seasons. Although many VRTIs are self-limiting, their frequent recurrence and potential for severe health complications highlight the critical need for effective therapeutic strategies. Viral proteases are crucial for the maturation and replication of viruses, making them promising therapeutic targets. This review explores the pivotal role of viral proteases in the lifecycle of respiratory viruses and the development of protease inhibitors as a strategic response to these infections. Recent advances in antiviral therapy have highlighted the effectiveness of protease inhibitors in curtailing the spread and severity of viral diseases, especially during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. It also assesses the current efforts aimed at identifying and developing inhibitors targeting key proteases from major respiratory viruses, including human RVs, AdVs, and (severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2) SARS-CoV-2. Despite the recent identification of SARS-CoV-2, within the last five years, the scientific community has devoted considerable time and resources to investigate existing drugs and develop new inhibitors targeting the virus’s main protease. However, research efforts in identifying inhibitors of the proteases of RVs and AdVs are limited. Therefore, herein, it is proposed to utilize this knowledge to develop new inhibitors for the proteases of other viruses affecting the respiratory tract or to develop dual inhibitors. Finally, by detailing the mechanisms of action and therapeutic potentials of these inhibitors, this review aims to demonstrate their significant role in transforming the management of respiratory viral diseases and to offer insights into future research directions.

AbstractTo attain promising pharmacotherapies, researchers have applied drug repurposing (DR) techniques to discover the candidate medicines to combat the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak. Although many DR approaches have been introduced for treating different diseases, only structure-based DR (SBDR) methods can be employed as the first therapeutic option against the COVID-19 pandemic because they rely on the rudimentary information about the diseases such as the sequence of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 genome. Hence, to try out new treatments for the disease, the first attempts have been made based on the SBDR methods which seem to be among the proper choices for discovering the potential medications against the emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases. Given the importance of SBDR approaches, in the present review, well-known SBDR methods are summarized, and their merits are investigated. Then, the databases and software applications, utilized for repurposing the drugs against COVID-19, are introduced. Besides, the identified drugs are categorized based on their targets. Finally, a comparison is made between the SBDR approaches and other DR methods, and some possible future directions are proposed.