Summary
The world is confronting a dire situation due to the recent pandemic of the novel coronavirus disease (2019-nCoV) with the mortality rate passed over 150,000. Attaining efficient drugs evolve in parallel to the understanding of the 2019-nCoV pathogenesis. The current drugs in the pipeline and some plausible drugs are overviewed in this paper. Although different types of antiviral targets are applicable for 2019-nCoV drug screenings, the more promising targets can be considered as 3cl protease and RNA polymerase. The remdesivir could be considered the closest bifunctional drug to be provisional clinical administration for 2019-nCoV. The known molecular targets of the 2019-nCoV include fourteen targets while four molecules of ACE2, cathepsin L, 3cL protease and RdRpĀ are suggessted as more promising potential targets. Accordingly, dual acting drugs as an encouraging solution in drug discovery is suggested. Emphasizing on the potential route of 2019-nCov infection and virus entry related factors like Integrins, cathepsin and ACE2 seems valuable. The potential molecular targets of each step of the 2019-nCoV life cycle are discussed and highlighted in this paper. Much progress in understanding the 2019-nCoV the molecular details of its life cycle followed by the identification of new therapeutic targets needed to lead us to an efficient approach in anti-2019-nCoV drug discovery.
Keywords: Antivirals, Drug repurposing, Molecular targets, Novel coronavirus, 2019-nCoV, Proteases