Potential Drug Candidates for the Treatment of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID 19): Current Clinical Trials and their Interpretations

ABSTRACT

The occurrence of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is formally recognized as a severe acute respiratory syndrome-related coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) and characterized as a universal public health problem. Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infects the lower respiratory system to cause viral pneumonia, and also leads to multiple organ damage including kidney, liver and etc. The coronavirus disease 2019 is spread and transmits through human-to-human by means of droplets, feco-oral, and direct contact. Applying the protective mechanism is the only option to control COVID-19 infection due to the absence of approved antiviral treatment or vaccine for the prevention and treatment of COVID-19. Therefore, developing a safe and effective therapeutic agent is necessary to overcome the overcoming potential impact of coronavirus disease in 2019 in the world. This review focus on the current clinical trials under investigation on the potential drug candidates for the treatment of coronavirus disease 2019 to support the scientific community for further research and development efforts to discover safe and effective therapeutic and preventive agents for COVID-19. Drug under investigation especially remdesivir had benefits to reduce duration of symptom onset from clinical manifestation and reduce duration of hospitalization in some patients. Based on clinical trial, the known and potential benefits of remdesivir outweigh the known and potential risks of the drug for the treatment of severe COVID-19 in hospitalized patients depends on data obtained from clinical trial.

CONCLUSION

Even though different reports have published and presented on the medical journals and press claiming the potential of different agents for the effective treatment of patients with COVID-19, there are no Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved drugs for the treatment of this disease. More or less absolute clinical trial data are needed to recognize safe and effective treatments for coronavirus disease 2019. Infection prevention and control methods and supportive care, including supplemental oxygen and mechanical ventilatory support when needed are the suggested management decision for patients infected with coronavirus disease 2019.

FDA issued an emergency use authorization for the antiviral drug under investigation (i.e. remdesivir) for the treatment of COVID-19 in hospitalized patients especially critically ill adults and children. In a clinical trial, remdesivir reduced recovery time to shorten the time to in certain patients but little is known about the safety and efficacy of using this investigational drug for the treatment of COVID-19 in hospitalized patients. The emergency use authorization allows for remdesivir be distributing within the U.S.A and administering intravenously by health care providers due to the reason that the known and potential benefits of remdesivir outweigh the known and potential risks of the drug for the treatment of severe COVID-19 in hospitalized patients the depends on data obtained from clinical trial. The use of high-dose chloroquine (600 mg twice daily) for the treatment of COVID-19 was increased mortality especially when taken concurrently with azithromycin and oseltamivir. Also, the combination of hydroxychloroquine plus azithromycin and Lopinavir/ritonavir were restricted for the treatment of COVID-19 because of the potential for toxicities and unfavorable pharmacodynamics and negative clinical trial data, respectively. Full clinical studies will be necessary to know the safety and efficacy of antivirals and antimalarial agents on the patients with coronavirus disease 2019.

Full length article: https://www.longdom.org/open-access/potential-drug-candidates-for-the-treatment-of-coronavirus-disease-2019-covid-19-current-clinical-trials-and-their-inter.pdf

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Nancy Ella
Editor Board
Drug Designing: Open Access
drugdesign@eclinicalsci.org