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