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

In these two decades of the 21st century, the human vulnerability to emerging viral diseases has been notable 24 . The emergence of infectious disease highlights the undeniable fact that existing countermeasures are inefficient to prevent virus spill over and diseases outbreak. Preclinical data on the susceptibility of an emerging virus to clinically approved drugs can allow for the rapid mobilization of resources towards clinical trials 8 . This approach proved feasible for combating the Zika, yellow fever and chikungunya outbreaks experienced in Brazil over the past 5 years, when our group demonstrated that sofosbuvir, a blockbuster drug against hepatitis C, could represent a compassionate countermeasure against these diseases [25] [26] [27] [28] [29] .