Antiviral options against SARS-CoV-2 infection

As of May 2020, the number of people infected with SARS-CoV-2 continues to skyrocket, with more than 4,5 million cases worldwide. Both the World Health Organization (WHO) and United Nations (UN) has highlighted the need for better control of SARS-CoV-2 infections. Developing novel virus-specific vaccines, monoclonal antibodies and antiviral drugs against SARS-CoV-2 can be time-consuming and costly. Convalescent plasma and safe-in-man broad-spectrum antivirals (BSAAs) are readily available treatment options. Here we developed a neutralization assay using SARS-CoV-2 virus and monkey Vero-E6 cells. We identified most potent sera from recovered patients for treatment of SARS-CoV-2-infected patients. We also screened 136 safe-in-man broad-spectrum antivirals against SARS-CoV-2 infection in Vero/E6 cells and identified antiviral activity of nelfinavir, salinomycin, amodiaquine, obatoclax, emetine and homoharringtonine. We found that combinations of virus-directed drug nelfinavir with host-directed drugs, such as salinomycin, amodiaquine, obatoclax, emetine and homoharringtonine exhibit synergistic effect against SARS-CoV-2. Finally, we developed a website to disseminate the knowledge on available and emerging treatments of COVID-19.