Research and development of antiviral drugs against new coronavirus 2019-nCoV

ABSTRACT

At the end of 2019,an outbreak of 2019 new coronavirus infectious disease (COVID-19) in Wuhan spread rapidly in China and reported cases in other countries.The number of infected cases and deaths quickly exceeded Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) in a short period of time,resulting in incalculable losses to China.Chinese researchers have quickly identified the pathogen,2019-nCoV (or SARS-CoV-2 or HCoV-19) and carried out the research and development of antiviral drugs at different levels.This article briefly reviews the current advancement of research and development of new therapeutics against 2019-nCoV infection.Given that the progress of research and development of antiviral drugs against the emerging and reemerging pathogens is relatively backwarded,we suggest that the research and development of antivirals against pathogens with pandemic or epidemic potential should be carried out in advance before the occurrence of the outbreaks. At the national level,we should promote the research and development of broad-spectrum antivirals and clinical trials to combat the pathogens with epidemic risk.