Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2020 Jun;83(6):534-536.
doi: 10.1097/JCMA.0000000000000318.

Potential therapeutic agents against COVID-19: What we know so far

Chih-Chia Lu  1 , Mei-Yu Chen  1 , Wan-Shin Lee  1 , Yuh-Lih Chang  1   2
Affiliations
Review

Potential therapeutic agents against COVID-19: What we know so far

Chih-Chia Lu et al. J Chin Med Assoc. 2020 Jun.

Abstract

The emerging outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 continues to spread all over the world. Agents or vaccines of proven efficacy to treat or prevent human coronavirus infection are in urgent need and are being investigated vigorously worldwide. This review summarizes the current evidence of potential therapeutic agents, such as lopinavir/ritonavir, remdesivir, favipiravir, chloroquine, hydroxychloroquine, interferon, ribavirin, tocilizumab, and sarilumab. More clinical trials are being conducted for further confirmation of the efficacy and safety of these agents in treating COVID-19.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Conflicts of interest: The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest related to the subject matter or materials discussed in this article.

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. World Health Organization. Situation updates on March 26, 2020. Available at https://www.who.int/docs/default-source/coronaviruse/situation-reports/2.... Accessed March 27, 2020.
    1. Lu R, Zhao X, Li J, Niu P, Yang B, Wu H, et al. Genomic characterisation and epidemiology of 2019 novel coronavirus: implications for virus origins and receptor binding. Lancet. 2020; 395:565–74 - PMC - PubMed
    1. Cvetkovic RS, Goa KL. Lopinavir/ritonavir: a review of its use in the management of HIV infection. Drugs. 2003; 63:769–802 - PubMed
    1. Chu CM, Cheng VC, Hung IF, Wong MM, Chan KH, Chan KS, et al. Role of lopinavir/ritonavir in the treatment of SARS: initial virological and clinical findings. Thorax. 2004; 59:252–6 - PMC - PubMed
    1. Chan JF, Yao Y, Yeung ML, Deng W, Bao L, Jia L, et al. Treatment with lopinavir/ritonavir or interferon-β1b improves outcome of MERS-CoV infection in a nonhuman primate model of common marmoset. J Infect Dis. 2015; 212:1904–13 - PMC - PubMed