New research published in British Journal of Pharmacology indicates that two currently available drugs – an antifungal drug and an antidepressant – can effectively inhibit the virus that causes COVID-19 in laboratory cells.
The researchers found that the antifungal itraconazole and the antidepressant fluoxetine blocked the production of infectious SARS-CoV-2 viruses in cell culture laboratory tests. When either drug was used in combination with the sender of antiviral drugs, the combination showed synergistic effects and inhibited SARS-CoV-2 production by more than 90%.
Preventive vaccination and therapeutic drugs against COVID-19 are required to effectively combat pandemics caused by emerging zoonotic viruses such as SARS-CoV-2 ”.
Ursula Rescher, PhD, lead author of the study, University of Münster, Germany
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Newspaper reference:
Schloer, S., et al. (2021) The pharmacological synergy of treatment combined with remdesivir and reused drugs fluoxetine and itraconazole effectively affects SARS-CoV-2 infection in vitro. British Journal of Pharmacology. doi.org/10.1111/bph.15418.