[New Analogues of Uridine as Possible Anti-Viral Agents Specific to SARS-CoV-2]

The development of specific drugs against SARS-CoV-2 infection is a major challenge facing global science and healthcare. Despite numerous attempts, there are still no truly effective drugs. Currently, the main approach in the creation of drugs against COVID-19 is repurposing, i.e., re-profiling existing drugs approved for medical use, for example, the use of a drug for the treatment of Ebola-Remdesivir, and the use of a drug for the treatment of influenza-Favipiravir. However, it is already obvious that these drugs are not specific enough nor effective enough. Another promising approach is the creation of new molecules, but it should be noted immediately that implementation requires much more time and costs. However, the search for new SARS-CoV-2 specific antiviral agents continues. The aim of our work was the creation of new 5-substituted uridine derivatives as potential inhibitors of coronavirus RNA-dependent RNA polymerase. The substances were obtained in high yields by the Suzuki-Miyaura reaction and characterized using modern physicochemical methods. However, testing of their antiviral activity against SARS-CoV-2 did not reveal a significant inhibitory effect.

Evaluation of the Antiviral Potential of Modified Heterocyclic Base and 5'-Norcarbocyclic Nucleoside Analogs Against SARS-CoV-2

The pandemic caused by the novel betacoronavirus SARS-CoV-2 has already claimed more than 3.5 million lives. Despite the development and use of anti-COVID-19 vaccines, the disease remains a major public health challenge throughout the world. Large-scale screening of the drugs already approved for the treatment of other viral, bacterial, and parasitic infections, as well as autoimmune, oncological, and other diseases is currently underway as part of their repurposing for development of effective therapeutic agents against SARS-CoV-2. In this work, we present the results of a phenotypic screening of libraries of modified heterocyclic bases and 5'-norcarbocyclic nucleoside analogs previously synthesized by us. We identified two leading compounds with apparent potential to inhibit SARS-CoV-2 replication and EC50 values in a range of 20-70 μM. The structures of these compounds can be further optimized to develop an antiviral drug.