Five Promising Antiviral Drugs Identified — Announced by the Joint Research Team Between HUAWEI CLOUD and Several Research Institutes

Mar 05, 2020

February 4, 2020

On February 3, the joint research team of the School of Basic Medicine of Tongji Medical College of Huazhong University of Science & Technology, the Sixth Clinical School of Tongji Medical College of Huazhong University of Science & Technology, the First Affiliated Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University, the Beijing Institute of Genomics of Chinese Academy of Sciences, and HUAWEI CLOUD announced the successful screening of five promising antiviral drugs for SARS-CoV-2.

The joint research team conducted ultra-large-scale computer-aided screening of 8,506 drugs listed or undergoing clinical trials for use on multiple target proteins of SARS-CoV-2 (the crystal structure of the M^pro protein was provided by structural biologist Rao Zihe and his team at the Chinese Academy of Sciences). The first phase of the project was completed within one week. The study found that five drugs could be effective for treating SARS-CoV-2: Beclabuvir, Saquinavir, Bictegravir, Lopinavir, and Dolutegravir.

The team also found that not only could Beclabuvir be bound to M^pro proteins, but also be a potential inhibitor of RNA polymerase NSP12 on which the SARS-CoV-2 RNA depends. Saquinavir can bind well not only with the M^pro protein, but also with the S protein of SARS-CoV-2, which can prevent the virus from spreading both inside and on the surface of the cell.

Currently, the joint research team is conducting cytological verifications of the five antiviral drugs and promoting clinical trials. The research results released by the joint research team will be made available to biomedical research institutes through HUAWEI CLOUD (http://www.liuzhaokun.cn/intl/en-us/product/eihealth.html) for antiviral drug R&D.