COVID-19: An Overview of SARS-CoV-2 Variants—The Current Vaccines and Drug Development

Table 3

Drugs with antiviral efficacy on SARS-CoV-2.Please confirm the rearranged sequence of table citations in text as they should be in ascending sequence as per journal style.

Classification	Agent	The main usage	Mechanism of action against COVID-19	Ref.
Viral enter and fusion	Chloroquine/hydroxychloroquine	Malaria and autoimmune disease	Interferes with glycosylation of ACE2, proteolytic processing, and endosomal acidification	[231]
	Arbidol-umifenovir	Influenza, SARS	Inhibition of S-protein-ACE2 prevents viral entry into the host cell fusion inhibition	[99]
	Ivermectin	HIV, dengue, influenza, Zika virus, yellow fever virus, etc.	Imped the attachment of SARS-CoV-2 to the host cell, inhibit importin alpha/beta-1 nuclear transport proteins	[102, 103]
Viral protease inhibitor	Lopinavir/ritonavir	HIV, SARS, MERS	Inhibit the viral 3CL protease—inhibit viral replication and release from the cell	[305]
	Darunavir	HIV	Inhibiting one of the vital main protease enzyme	[122]
	Nelfinavir	HIV	Binds to the protease active site and inhibits the activity of the enzyme; Inhibit viral entry via the angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) receptor and transmembrane serine protease 2	[127]
	Atazanavir	HIV	Inhibit the viral 3CL protease	[132]
Transcription and replication inhibitor	Remdesivir	HBV, HCV, Ebola, Marburg virus, HIV	Interferes with viral RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp) and reduces viral RNA synthesis to arrest viral replication	[231]
	Ribavirin	RSV	Inhibits viral RNA polymerase	[151]
	Favipiravir (FPV)	Viral diseases	Inhibits viral polymerase and replicase activity	[155]
	Aplidin	Antitumor, antiviral	Inhibits the human protein eEF1A which has potential interactions with multiple coronavirus proteins and inhibits viral translation	[167]
	Molnupiravir	Influenza	Impede replication by inducing RNA mutations	[176]
	PAXLOVID	SARS-CoV-2	Inhibit the viral 3CL protease—inhibit viral replication—not mutagenic
Immunomodulators	Steroids	HLH, ARDS	Immunosuppressive and anti-inflammatory	[306]
	Tocilizumab	Rheumatic diseases	Blocking IL-6 signalling and its mediated inflammatory response	[187]
	Colchicine	Treat gout and rheumatic disease	Combat the hyperinflammatory state of COVID-19 (e.g., cytokine storm) by suppressing proinflammatory cytokines and chemokines	[307]
	Baricitinib	SARS	Inhibiting the cytokine storm and JAK 1 and 2 enzymes	[198]