DRUG REPURPOSING FOR TREATMENT OF COVID-19 PATIENTS

ABSTRACT

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by the novel severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) has claimed more than four million lives worldwide. Daily cases and death rates are on the rise and, unfortunately, the therapeutic vaccine or drug treatment is still nowhere to be found. Finding a cure for viruses is not easy, as vaccine and drug development may take many years of trial and error. There is, however, a way to speed up the process by repurposing the available drugs on the market. Considering that all physico-chemical properties, efficacy, and safety profiles of the drugs have been established, we believe that by repurposing drugs, it would provide a short cut in finding a cure for COVID-19. In the second opinion, we believe that a combination of drugs will also be beneficial in preventing a recurrence of infection. Thus, here we highlight several combinations of drugs that have potential to treat COVID-19. © 2021. Penerbit UMT. All Rights Reserved.