Targeting the main protease for COVID-19 treatment: A comprehensive review of computational screening and experimental studies

SARS-CoV-2 was the pathogen responsible for triggering the global COVID-19 outbreak in 2020. Encouraging advancements have been made in the research and development of vaccines and antiviral drugs. Noticeably, the coronavirus reproduction process relies heavily on the SARS-CoV-2 Main protease (Mpro), which is essential for viral replication. Therefore, this review presents computational drug discovery and screening methods aiming at identifying repurposed medications and potent new compounds from existing databases to effectively combat COVID19 by targeting Mpro. This review can aid in understanding Mpro inhibitors and their potential usefulness.