Drugs for the treatment of COVID-19

ABSTRACT

Currently, there are no drugs or other therapeutic agents approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to prevent or treat COVID-19. Current standard of care includes prevention of infection and control measures and supportive care, including supplemental oxygen and, when required, mechanical ventilatory support. This chapter outlines important drugs that have the potential to be used as Covid-19 remedies. Several landmark clinical trials are discussed, and clinical evidence is sought for the claims made for the efficacy of these drugs in treating Covid-19. Literature searches suggest that dexamethasone reduces mortality in severely ill patients and may also reduce the need of mechanical ventilation in such patients compared to the standard care. However, no irrefutable evidence was found for the efficacy claims of hydroxychloroquine. The role of many other drugs is still uncertain as there are very few large-scale randomized clinical trials to show their effectiveness in Covid-19. However, many new and exciting molecules are being tested in the laboratories. Large, randomized, controlled, double-blind trials are underway to investigate the safety and efficacy of several new and old drugs. © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021.