26 Jul 2021
Setting it Straight: Drugs and antibodies, immunoglobulins and small molecules
Last week (#66) I summarised my understanding of where we are with the development – and possible short-term availability – of antiviral drugs (#1) that directly target SARS-CoV-2 and stop the virus from multiplying within our cells. It’s highly likely that any ‘small molecule therapeutic’ that blocks an essential replicative function encoded by the SARS-CoV-2 genome will also inhibit the production of other members of the coronavirus family. Apart from their use now to promote the recovery of people with COVID-19, such drugs would also provide us with an immediate response weapon for tackling possible immune escape variants of SARS-CoV-2, along with any future CoV that jumps from bats into us and has pandemic potential.