Indian scientists have found drugs and possible cocktails that can target vital proteins of COVID-19 and may potentially help treat the deadly virus, reported PTI.

The research, which was published in the journal Scientific Reports, used a virtual screening of the DrugBank database and  identified a variety of as yet unexplored ways to attack SARS-CoV-2, even as it mutates.

The Drugbank database is a chemical space of compounds approved by FDA and molecules under drug trials.

A group of researchers from Alagappa University in Tamil Nadu and KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden proposed a list of individual drugs and cocktails that deserve testing for the treatment of COVID-19.

According to researchers, an important part of the study is the identification of drugs that target or bind to multiple proteins that are essential for replication of the virus, which are also involved in the initial stage of host-cell infection.

Vaibhav Srivastava and Arul Murugan, who are the corresponding authors of the study, say that multi-targeting offers an effective route to deal with drug resistance, which would enable a drug to work around mutations of the virus.

Srivastava said, “The virus is mutating rapidly, which means that it is modifying its proteins. If we have a drug that can target several proteins, and if one becomes mutated, the drug will be effective on others.”

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He added, “It was possible for us to propose cocktails, or blends of drugs, in which each drug can bind to a specific target protein with high affinity.”

The study proposed one cocktail, baloxavir marboxil, natamycin and RU85053, which targets the three viral proteins respectively, 3CL Main protease, papain-like protease and RdRp.

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The researchers noted that such drug cocktails have proven effective in the treatment of other virally-transmitted diseases, such as HIV.

According to Murugan, the reliability of their approach was validated by the fact that the screening also identified drugs that are already in clinical trial.

Such studies can provide valuable insights regarding why certain drugs were found to be ineffective, the researchers said.

For example, the drug hydroxychloroquine was non-effective mainly due to its poor binding affinity towards viral proteins, they said.

Other drugs that the study recommended for testing were tivantinib, olaparib, zoliflodacin, golvatinib, sonidegib, regorafenib and PCO-371.

The research also provides a listing of multi-targeting drugs such as DB04016, phthalocyanine, tadalafil, which can also be effective in combating the rapidly-mutating coronavirus.