Remdesivir, lopinavir, and chloroquine are among the drugs highlighted in these recent journal articles.
Two articles on COVID-19 research were published in AAPS’ journals in May, spotlighting remdesivir with IV administration and the research progress of drug treatments.
The first article, Remdesivir for Treatment of COVID-19: Combination of Pulmonary and IV Administration May Offer Additional Benefit, is an AAPS Journal review by Duxin Sun, Ph.D. Sun notes in the article that “[r]emdesivir is one of the most promising drugs to treat COVID-19 based on its broad spectrum antiviral mechanism, in vitro activity against SARS-CoV-2, in vivo efficacy in animal models against similar coronavirus MERS, and its safety profile in human.”
Sun, the J.G. Searle Endowed Professor at the University of Michigan College of Pharmacy, Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences and an editorial board member for The AAPS Journal, ultimately wants to share his laboratory’s analysis of remdesivir to help advance research to fight this disease. His team’s research showed that their studied IV “treatment regimen is unlikely to achieve adequate clinical efficacy based on… (1) Plasma exposure of Remdesivir, alanine metabolite, and nucleoside metabolites is not correlated with its antiviral efficacy, (2) The low exposure of Remdesivir and its active metabolite in the lung may be inadequate to inhibit SARS-CoV-2 virus.”
Instead of implementing only an IV dose, Sun recommends that “pulmonary delivery of 50 mg Remdesivir, in addition to a safe IV dose, can be implemented immediately to realize its potential against COVID-19.”
AAPS PharmSciTech additionally published the mini-review Research Progress of Drug Treatment on Novel Coronavirus Pneumonia, by Junqiang Yan, Anran Liu, Jiarui Huang, Jiannan Wu, and Hua Fan. The authors express that “The drugs currently being developed are not adequate to deal with this critical situation.”
They summarize many of the recently used treatments, including antiviral therapies, antimalarial drugs, glucocorticoid, plasma therapy, biological agents, and Chinese traditional medicine. The authors recommend that “[t]he effectiveness and safety of drug therapy need to be confirmed by more clinical studies.” A brief summary of what’s been tested ultimately helps narrow-down the options for future trials as scientists test many new treatments and work to develop a vaccine.
Read and Submit
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Springer Nature is releasing all related research freely to the public. With or without your AAPS membership or institutional access, you can view these full articles and share them with your colleagues.
Consider submitting your COVID-19 research to The AAPS Journal, AAPS PharmSciTech, or Pharmaceutical Research.