SARS-CoV-2 Biology and Drug Development

COVID-19 is an ongoing emerging infectious disease and the causative agent of COVID-19 was identified as SARS-CoV-2. Although this virus is very similar to SARS-CoV based on the viral genome sequence, the transmission, pathogenesis and case fatality are substantially different from those caused by other coronaviruses such as SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV. The unprecedented socioeconomic burden by COVID-19 has prompted very fast development of diagnostic tools, vaccines, and therapeutics. Remarkably, within ten months after the release of the viral genome sequence, a couple of vaccines were successfully developed and after emergency use authorization, several of them are now being used for vaccination of people in many countries. Compared to the vaccine development, drug development has been partially successful so far, and the most potent antiviral drugs were developed as therapeutic antibodies which would inhibit interaction between viral spike protein and host receptor ACE2, thereby blocking viral entry. In this presentation, the COVID-19 drug development efforts will be discussed focusing on drug repositioning and the recent SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern.