Progress of Remdesivir in the Treatment of Coronavirus Infection

Abstract

In December 2019, the outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019(COVID-19)occurred in Wuhan, China. It became the third outbreak of coronavirus infection after severe acute respiratory syndrome(SARS)and Middle East respiratory syndrome(MERS)in the past decade. COVID-19 is caused by 2019-novel coronavirus(2019-nCoV)infection that has spread rapidly and extensively.2019-nCoV is highly contagious, but there is no specific antiviral drug for coronavirus at present. Remdesivir, a nucleoside analogue, showed anti-SARS-CoV and anti-MERS-CoV activities in vitro and in animal models, and showed no obvious adverse reaction in the multicenter, randomized, controlled clinical trial of Ebola virus infection. Remdesivir is considered to be the great promising drug for treating 2019-nCoV infection. This article reviewed the research history and potential clinical applications of remdesivir in the treatment of coronavirus infection. Key words: remdesivir; coronavirus disease 2019; 2019-novel coronavirus; clinical trial