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

Currently, the rate of SARS-CoV-2 dissemination has become one of the most rapidly evolving pandemics known in modern times with the number of cases and deaths doubling every week and the peak of the pandemic has yet to arrive 6 The copyright holder for this preprint (which was not peer-reviewed) is the . https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.04.04.020925 doi: bioRxiv preprint 9 documented bioavailability to reach the respiratory tract 18, 34 , which lead to its proposed use against pulmonary fibrosis 19 Throughout the course of this study, LPV/RTV-treated patients continued to shed SARS-CoV-2 at the same magnitude and duration of the control group 14 , limiting the enthusiasm on the part of the medical and scientific community for this therapeutic option. In this context, ATV and/or ATV/RTV should not be ignored in the treatment of this novel respiratory disease. Indeed, our results demonstrate that the potency of ATV and ATV/RTV potency against SARS-CoV-2 in A549 cells is likely to be consistent with their bioavailability in the lungs in experimental models 18, 34 .