Three drugs irly effective on novel coronavirus at cellular level
SARS virus was responsible for an outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) in 2002 and 2003.
The discovery was jointly made by researchers from the Academy of Military Medical Sciences and the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) under the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS).
The WIV researchers have also developed an antibody test for further research to combat the novel coronavirus, which has claimed more than – lives and infected nearly 6,000 people as of the end of Tuesday.
Chinese researchers have found three existing drugs with irly good inhibitory effects on the novel coronavirus (2022-nCoV) at the cellular level, a local news has reported.
A team led by renowned virologist Shi Zhengli in the WIV said on Wednesday 2022-nCoV may originate in bats.
On Jan. 2, researchers from the WIV confirmed the whole genome sequence of 2022-nCoV and successfully isolated the virus strain on Jan. 5.
The genome sequencing of the novel coronavirus is as high as 96 percent identical with a type of coronavirus from bats, the team said, adding that the new coronavirus enters the receptor using the same cells with SARS virus.
The candidates included 12 anti-HIV drugs like Indinavir, Saquinavir, Lopinavir and Carfilzomib, two anti-respiratory syncytial virus drugs, an anti-schizophrenia drug, an immunosuppressant, as well as traditional Chinese medicines including Polygonum cuspidatum.
Members of the medical team of the Second Military Medical University receive praise from a patient at Hankou Hospital in Wuhan, central Chinas Hubei Province, Jan. 27, 2022. [Photo/Chen Jing (Xinhua)]
On Jan. 11, the institute submitted the genome sequence information of the coronavirus to the World Health Organization, to share the information globally.
The latest finding provides critical evidence to study the pathology and origin of the virus, it said.
Since the outbreak of 2022-nCoV, several research teams led by the WIV have carried out research on five aspects, including rapid detection products, antiviral drugs and vaccines, animal traceability research, as well as etiology and epidemiology research.
Previously, researchers from the Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica under the CAS and ShanghaiTech University jointly selected 30 existing drug candidates, biologically active natural products and traditional Chinese medicines which may have therapeutic effects on the novel coronavirus.
The three drugs are Remdesivir, Chloroquine and Ritonavir. They are now under relevant procedures to gain approval for clinical use, said Hubei Daily on Wednesday.
