Drug Repositioning Approach to Target Viral and Host Cells for COVID-19 Treatment: A Review of In Vivo Experiments and Clinical Studies

The document is a review of drug repositioning strategies for COVID-19 treatment, examining both virus-targeting and host-targeting drugs through in vivo experiments and clinical studies. It highlights the economic and safety benefits of repurposing existing drugs. Specific drugs discussed include remdesivir, favipiravir, ribavirin, sofosbuvir, tenofovir/emtricitabine, azvudine, Darunavir, Paxlovid, lopinavir/ritonavir, nafamostat, ivermectin, molnupiravir, proxalutamide, casirivimab/imdevimab, Arbidol, Baricitinib, chloroquine, and hydroxychloroquine. Paxlovid notably reduced hospitalization or death risk by 89% in a study of 1,219 patients. However, the review indicates mixed results and calls for more detailed studies to confirm the effectiveness of these drugs against COVID-19. The review does not provide specific numbers of participants for all the clinical studies mentioned, except for the Paxlovid study.