Sapropterin for COVID-19

The new strain of Coronaviruses (SARS-CoV-2), and the resulting Covid-19 disease has spread swiftly across the globe after its initial detection in late December 2019 in Wuhan, China, resulting in a pandemic status declaration by WHO within 3 months. Given the heavy toll of this pandemic, researchers are actively testing various strategies including new and repurposed drugs as well as vaccines. In the current brief report, we adopted a repositioning approach using insilico molecular modeling screening using FDA approved drugs with established safety profiles for potential inhibitory effects on Covid-19 virus. We started with structure based drug design by screening more than 2000 FDA approved drugsagainst Covid-19 virus main protease enzyme (Mpro) substrate-binding pocket to identify potential hits based on their binding energies, binding modes, interacting amino acids, and therapeutic indications. In addition, we elucidate preliminary pharmacophore features for candidates bound to Covid-19 virus Mpro substratebinding pocket. The top hits include anti-viral drugs such as Darunavir, Nelfinavirand Saquinavir, some of which are already being tested in Covid-19 patients. Interestingly, one of the most promising hits in our screen is the hypercholesterolemia drug Rosuvastatin. These results certainly do not confirm or indicate antiviral activity, but can rather be used as a starting point for further in vitro and in vivo testing, either individually or in combination.

The novel Wuhan coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) has been sequenced, and the virus shares substantial similarity with SARS-CoV. Here, using a computational model of the spike protein (S-protein) of SARS-CoV-2 interacting with the human ACE2 receptor, we make use of the world's most powerful supercomputer, SUMMIT, to enact an ensemble docking virtual high-throughput screening campaign and identify small-molecules which bind to either the isolated Viral S-protein at its host receptor region or to the S protein-human ACE2 interface. We hypothesize the identified small-molecules may be repurposed to limit viral recognition of host cells and/or disrupt host-virus interactions. A ranked list of compounds is given that can be tested experimentally.