Virtual Screening of Some Antivirals That Can Be Repurposed As Potential Effective Drugs against SARS-CoV-2

SARS-CoV-2 has triggered a big epidemic among people around the world and it is the newest in the sequence to be prevalent among other infectious diseases. Drug repurposing concept has been utilized effectively for numerous viral infections. Considering the situation and the urgency, the idea of drug repurposing for coronavirus infection (COVID-19) is also being studied. Screening with molecular docking method for 29 antiviral drugs was performed against SARSCoV-2 primary protease proteins (MPP), spike ecto-domain, spike receptor binding domain, Nsp9 RNA binding protein,and HR2 domain. Among these drugs, Indinavir, Sorivudine, Cidofovir and Darunavir show minimum docking scores with all key proteins in terms of least binding energy. For ADME (Absorption, Distribution, Metabolism, and Excretion) analysis, the top 4 drug candidates were further used to examine their drug profiles for suitability against SARS-CoV-2. The toxicity testing of top drug candidates showed no significant carcinogenic, mutagenic or skin irritating impacts. Indinavir may possess some complexity to heart. In addition, the drug similarity prediction revealed several approved structural analogues such as Telbivudine, Tenofovir, Amprenavir, Fosamprenavir etc which also could be used to treat viral infections. The study may speed up the findings of therapeutics against SARS-CoV-2.