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Although several clinical trials are now underway to test possible therapies, the worldwide response to the COVID-19 outbreak has been largely limited to monitoring/containment. We report here that Ivermectin, an FDA-approved anti-parasitic previously shown to have broad-spectrum anti-viral activity in vitro, is an inhibitor of the causative virus (SARS-CoV-2), with a single addition to Vero-hSLAM cells 2 hours post infection with SARS-CoV-2 able to effect ∼5000-fold reduction in viral RNA at 48 h. Ivermectin therefore warrants further investigation for possible benefits in humans.
Ivermectin is an FDA-approved broad spectrum anti-parasitic agent that in recent years we, along with other groups, have shown to have anti-viral activity against a broad range of viruses in vitro. Originally identified as an inhibitor of interaction between the human immunodeficiency virus-1 (HIV-1) integrase protein (IN) and the importin (IMP) α/β1 heterodimer responsible for IN nuclear import, Ivermectin has since been confirmed to inhibit IN nuclear import and HIV-1 replication. Other actions of ivermectin have been reported, but ivermectin has been shown to inhibit nuclear import of host and viral proteins, including simian virus SV40 large tumour antigen (T-ag) and dengue virus (DENV) non-structural protein 5....
Published in Antiviral Research (April 3, 2020):
