A comprehensive review on the global efforts on vaccines and repurposed drugs for combating COVID-19

Narva Deshwar Kushwaha; Jivanka Mohan; Babita Kushwaha; Terisha Ghazi; Joshua C Nwabuife; Neil Koorbanally; Anil A Chuturgoon

doi:10.1016/j.ejmech.2023.115719

A comprehensive review on the global efforts on vaccines and repurposed drugs for combating COVID-19

Eur J Med Chem. 2023 Nov 15:260:115719. doi: 10.1016/j.ejmech.2023.115719. Epub 2023 Aug 10.

Authors

Narva Deshwar Kushwaha¹, Jivanka Mohan², Babita Kushwaha², Terisha Ghazi², Joshua C Nwabuife³, Neil Koorbanally⁴, Anil A Chuturgoon⁵

Affiliations

¹ Discipline of Medical Biochemistry, School of Laboratory Medicine and Medical Science, College of Health Sciences, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa; Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Eugene Applebaum College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, 48201, USA. Electronic address: narvadeshwarkushwaha@gmail.com.
² Discipline of Medical Biochemistry, School of Laboratory Medicine and Medical Science, College of Health Sciences, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa.
³ Discipline of Pharmaceutical Sciences, College of Health Sciences, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 4000, South Africa.
⁴ School of Chemistry, College of Agriculture, Engineering and Science, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 4000, South Africa.
⁵ Discipline of Medical Biochemistry, School of Laboratory Medicine and Medical Science, College of Health Sciences, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa. Electronic address: chutur@ukzn.ac.za.

PMID: 37597435
DOI: 10.1016/j.ejmech.2023.115719

Abstract

The recently discovered coronavirus, known as SARS-CoV-2, is a highly contagious and potentially lethal viral infection that was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization on March 11, 2020. Since the beginning of the pandemic, an unprecedented number of COVID-19 vaccine candidates have been investigated for their potential to manage the pandemic. Herein, we reviewed vaccine development and the associated research effort, both traditional and forward-looking, to demonstrate the advantages and disadvantages of their technology, in addition to their efficacy limitations against mutant SARS-CoV-2. Moreover, we report repurposed drug discovery, which mainly focuses on virus-based and host-based targets, as well as their inhibitors. SARS-CoV-2 targets include the main protease (M^pro), and RNA-dependent RNA-polymerase (RdRp), which are the most well-studied and conserved across coronaviruses, enabling the development of broad-spectrum inhibitors of these enzymes.

Keywords: COVID-19; Mutations; Repurposing drugs; SARS-CoV-2; Small molecules drugs; Vaccines.

Publication types

Review

MeSH terms

COVID-19 Vaccines / pharmacology
COVID-19*
Humans
RNA
SARS-CoV-2
Vaccines*

Substances

COVID-19 Vaccines
Vaccines
RNA