Evaluation of 19 antiviral drugs against SARS-CoV-2 Infection

The global pandemic of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2 or 2019-nCoV) has prompted multiple clinical trials to jumpstart search for anti-SARS-CoV-2 therapies from existing drugs, including those with reported in vitro efficacies as well as those ones that are not known to inhibit SARS-CoV-2, such as ritonavir/lopinavir and favilavir. Here we report that after screening 19 antiviral drugs that are either in clinical trials or with proposed activity against SARS-CoV-2, remdesivir was the most effective. Chloroquine only effectively protected virus-induced cytopathic effect at around 30 µM with a therapeutic index of 1.5. Our findings also suggest that velpatasvir, ledipasvir, ritonavir, litonavir, lopinavir, favilavir, sofosbuvir, danoprevir, and pocapavir do not have direct antiviral effect.