Protease Inhibitors for the Treatment of SARS-CoV-2

A new coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) in 2019 was identified as the cause of the first outbreak of pneumonia found in Wuhan, China. Research on the spread, severity, and other functions of the virus is ongoing. Since no vaccines or therapeutic antibodies currently can prevent the infection, targeting specific inhibitors against key proteases involved in virus replication and proliferation is the most effective way to alleviate the epidemic. Based on thousands of clinical drug libraries, scientists have identified three small-molecule drugs with high binding potential to the coronavirus main protease through high-throughput screening, which can be used as candidate drugs for the treatment of SARS-CoV-2 infection.