Atazanavir inhibits SARS-CoV-2 replication and pro-inflammatory cytokine production

Natalia Fintelman-Rodrigues; Carolina Q. Sacramento; Carlyle Ribeiro Lima; Franklin Souza da Silva; André C. Ferreira; Mayara Mattos; Caroline S. de Freitas; Vinicius Cardoso Soares; Suelen da Silva Gomes Dias; Jairo R. Temerozo; Milene Miranda; Aline R. Matos; Fernando A. Bozza; Nicolas Carels; Carlos Roberto Alves; Marilda M. Siqueira; Patrícia T. Bozza; Thiago Moreno L. Souza

CQ was used as a positive control because of its inclusion in the SOLIDARITY trial due to its encouraging pre-clinical and clinical results against SARS-CoV-2 replication and COVID-19, respectively 20, 21 . ATV/RTV was the most potent therapy tested; with an EC 50 of 0.5 ± 0.08 µM. ATV alone and CQ's potencies were 2.0 ± 0.12 µM and 1.0 ± 0.07 µM, respectively. SARS-CoV-2 susceptibility to CQ is consistent with recent reports in the literature 20 , validating our analysis. The ATV/RTV, ATV, and CQ cytotoxicity values, CC 50 , were 280 ± 3 µM, 312 ± 8 µM and 259 ± 5 µM, respectively.