But even with rapid government approval, it could take months to develop new drugs from scratch that might be effective against the virus, Sadek explained in a UT Southwestern news release.
That led his team to conduct computer modeling studies on certain drugs already approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, to assess their potential in combating the coronavirus.
The results showed that the most promising drugs included several antiviral drugs— including Darunavir, Nelfinavir, and Saquinavir—and several other types of drugs, including: the ACE inhibitor Moexipril; the chemotherapy drugs Daunorubicin and Mitoxantrone; the painkiller Metamizole; the antihistamine Bepotastine; and the antimalarial drug Atovaquone.
Another promising candidate is the cholesterol-lowering statin rosuvastatin, which is sold under the brand name Crestor. It's already taken by millions of patients around the world to lower their cholesterol, is safe, inexpensive and readily available, Sadek noted.
