In December 2019 many patients in a city in China called Wuhan, developed severe Pneumonia by a pathogen which was unknown. Later the virus that causes this disease was identified as a novel corona virus (2019-nCov). Corona virus (2019-nCov) derives its name from latin corona (crown) referring to the shape of proteins around the virion. It is an RNA virus belongs to Betacoronavirus which also contains SARS-CoV and Middle East Respiratory syndrome Co-V (MERS-CoV).
All these clinical trials are conducted in China | |||
Name of drug | Company | Mechanism | Clinical trial |
ASC09/ritonavir, lopinavir/ritonavir, with or without umifenovir | Ascletis, AbbVie, Pharmstandard | ASC09 is an experimental HIV-1 protease inhibitor; ritonavir and lopinavir/ritonavir are approved protease inhibitors for HIV/AIDS; umifenovir is an approved entry inhibitor against influenza | At least three trials (e.g., ChiCTR2000029603, 2/6/20) |
ASC09/oseltamivir, ritonavir/oseltamivir, oseltamivir | Ascletis, Gilead, AbbVie | oseltamivir is a sialidase inhibitor approved for influenza |
One trial (NCT04261270, 2/7/20) |
Azvudine | Zhengzhou Granlen PharmaTech | Experimental reverse transcriptase inhibitor drug against HIV-1/AIDS | One trial (ChiCTR2000029853, 2/15/20) |
Various combinations of baloxavir marboxil/favipiravir and lopinavir/ritonavir | Shionogi, Toyama Chemical | Baloxavir marboxil is a Cap-dependent endonuclease inhibitor and favipiravir is a guanine analog RNA-dependent RNA polymerase inhibitor approved for influenza A and B | Two trials (ChiCTR2000029544, 2/3/20; ChiCTR2000029548, 2/4/20) |
Various combinations of darunavir/cobicistat alone or with lopinavir/ritonavir and thymosin α1 | Janssen, Gilead | Darunavir and cobicistat are, respectively, an HIV-1 protease inhibitor and inhibitor of cytochrome P450 (CYP)3A enzyme, approved as a combination against HIV-1/AIDS. Thymosin α1 is an immune response boosting agent | Two trials (NCT04252274, 2/5/20; ChiCTR2000029541, 2/3/20) |
Remdesivir | Gilead | Phosphoramidate prodrug of an adenine analog used for Ebola and Marburg virus outbreaks (similar structure to approved HIV reverse transcriptase inhibitors) | Two trials (NCT04252664, 2/5/20; NCT04257656, 2/6/20) |
Chloroquine or hydroxychloroquine | Shanghai Zhongxi Pharmaceutical, Shanghai Ziyuan Pharmaceutical, Wuhan Wuyao Pharmaceutica | Endosomal acidification fusion inhibitor | At least ten trials (e.g., ChiCTR2000029826, 2/2/20; NCT04261517, 2/14/20) |
Methylprednisolone | Generic | Synthetic corticosteroid that binds to nuclear receptors to dampen proinflammatory cytokines | One trial (NCT04263402, 2/10/20) |
Interferon alfa-2b alone or in combination with lopinavir/ritonavir and ribavirin | Biogen, Merck | Interferon alfa-2b is a recombinant cytokine with antiviral properties; ribavirin is a guanine derivative; as above | Two trials (NCT04254874, 2/5/20; ChiCTR2000029308, 1/23/20) |
Camrelizumab and thymosin | Incyte, Shanghai Hengrui Pharmaceutical | Camrelizumab is a humanized monoclonal antibody (mAb) targeting PD-1 | Two trials (ChiCTR2000029806, 2/14/20; NCT04268537, 2/14/20) |
Tocilizumab | Chugai Pharmaceutical, Zhejiang Hisun Pharmaceutical, Jiangsu Qyun Bio-Pharmaceutical | Humanized mAb targeting interleukin-6 | One trial (ChiCTR2000029765, 2/13/20) |