Publication:

A review of potential pharmacological treatments of COVID-19: an evidence-based perspective

Coronaviruses (CoVs) typically manifest as mild to severe respiratory tract infections. No drug is approved by US food and drug administration (FDA) for the treatment of patients with coronaviruses infection. With growing COVID-19 pandemic globally, need of hour is to work on potential prophylactic and therapeutic drugs to prevent local and community transmission. A literature search for eligible studies published till March 2020 was conducted in the PubMed, Medline, EMBASE, OVID, and Google Scholar databases by two reviewers. Therapeutic efficacy and safety of different drug regimens targeting treatment pathway acting against corona virus-2019 (COVID-19) were reviewed. Possible mechanism of actions of these potential repurposed drugs against COVID-19 were reviewed to develop effective prevention and treatment strategies. Many potential pharmacological therapies are being studied in various clinical trials. No FDA-approved repurposed drugs have shown safety and efficacy in randomized controlled trials for patients with COVID-19. Vaccines are under development and only few vaccines are under clinical evaluation. This review highlights potential drug actions against COVID-19 and their safety issues. It could help researchers and physicians to use these potential agents judiciously in clinical trials as well as in treatment protocols.