ABSTRACT
The COVID-19 pandemic caused by SARS-CoV-2 presents a global health emergency. Therapeutic options against SARS-CoV-2 are still very limited but urgently required. Molecular tweezers are supramolecular agents that destabilize the envelope of viruses resulting in a loss of viral infectivity. Here, we show that first-generation tweezers, CLR01 and CLR05, disrupt the SARS-CoV-2 envelope and abrogate viral infectivity. To increase the antiviral activity, a series of 34 advanced molecular tweezers were synthesized by insertion of aliphatic or aromatic ester groups on the phosphate moieties of the parent molecule CLR01. A structure-activity relationship study enabled the identification of tweezers with a markedly enhanced ability to destroy lipid bilayers and to suppress SARS-CoV-2 infection. Selected tweezer derivatives retain activity in airway mucus and inactivate the SARS-CoV-2 wildtype and variants of concern as well as respiratory syncytial, influenza, and measles viruses. Moreover, inhibitory activity of advanced tweezers against respiratory syncytial virus and SARS-CoV-2 was confirmed in mice. Thus, potentiated tweezers are broad-spectrum antiviral agents with great prospects for clinical development to combat highly pathogenic viruses.