After more than two years studying SARS-CoV-2—the virus that causes COVID-19—researchers at the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) are now designing and testing small-molecule antivirals that block the virus’s ability to reproduce. Along with their collaborators at the Institut Laue-Langevin (ILL), France, the researchers showed that their antiviral molecules are similarly as effective as some of the leading drugs on the market today.
The antiviral molecules, called hybrid inhibitors, are made from repurposed drugs used to treat hepatitis C and SARS-CoV—the coronavirus that broke out in 2002.
The team’s encouraging research results, published in the journal Nature Communications, indicate the novel antiviral molecules are worth further development for potential use as new drugs to treat various forms of the virus. Read More>>>