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Review
. 2021 Jul 30:15:3313-3330.
doi: 10.2147/DDDT.S320320. eCollection 2021.

COVID-19: Vaccine Delivery System, Drug Repurposing and Application of Molecular Modeling Approach

Affiliations
Review

COVID-19: Vaccine Delivery System, Drug Repurposing and Application of Molecular Modeling Approach

Soha R Abd El Hadi et al. Drug Des Devel Ther. .

Abstract

The acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) has spread across the world, resulting in a pandemic COVID-19 which is a human zoonotic disease that is caused by a novel coronavirus (CoV) strain thought to have originated in wild or captive bats in the initial COVID outbreak region. The global COVID-19 outbreak started in Guangdong Province, China's southernmost province. The global response to the COVID-19 pandemic has been hampered by the sheer number of infected people, many of whom need intensive care before succumbing to the disease. The epidemic is being handled by a combination of disease control by public health interventions and compassionate treatment for those who have been impacted. There is no clear anti-COVID-19 medication available at this time. However, the need to find medications that can turn the tide has led to the development of a number of investigational drugs as potential candidates for improving outcomes, especially in the severely and critically ill. Although many of these adjunctive medications are still being studied in clinical trials, professional organizations have attempted to define the circumstances in which their use is deemed off-label or compassionate. It is important to remind readers that new information about COVID-19's clinical features, treatment options, and outcomes is released on a regular basis. The mainstay of treatment remains optimized supportive care, and the therapeutic effectiveness of the subsequent agents is still being studied.

Keywords: COVID-19; drug repurposing; molecular modeling; nanoparticles; vaccine.

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Conflict of interest statement

All authors reported no conflicts of interest for this work.

Figures

None
Graphical abstract
Figure 1
Figure 1
Global confirmed cases of COVID-19 on June 25, 2021; there have been 179,686,071 confirmed cases of COVID-19, reported to WHO. Note: Adapted from WHO Coronavirus (COVID-19) Dashboard. World Health Organization; 2021. Available from: https://covid19.who.int/. Accessed July 23, 2021. © World Health Organization 2020, All rights reserved.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Global death cases of COVID-19 on June 25, 2021. Note: Adapted from WHO Coronavirus (COVID-19) Dashboard. World Health Organization; 2021. Available from: https://covid19.who.int/. Accessed July 23, 2021. © World Health Organization 2020, All rights reserved.
Figure 3
Figure 3
SARS-CoV-2 and its structural proteins are depicted schematically.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Polymerase inhibitors structure to fight COVID-19.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Structures of some main protease inhibitors used to fight COVID-19.
Figure 6
Figure 6
Simplified representation of SARS-CoV-2 lifecycle and potential drug targets.
Figure 7
Figure 7
Structures of some serine protease inhibitors.
Figure 8
Figure 8
Structures of some antimalaria drugs used in COVID-19.
Figure 9
Figure 9
Structures of some lipid lowering agents used in COVID-19.
Figure 10
Figure 10
COVID-19 vaccine doses administered by continent (Data collected on June 24, 2021).

Comment in

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