key: cord-1013785-8dlxnpcn authors: De Meyer, Sandra; Bojkova, Denisa; Cinatl, Jindrich; Van Damme, Ellen; Meng, Christophe Buyck; Van Loock, Marnix; Woodfall, Brian; Ciesek, Sandra title: Lack of Antiviral Activity of Darunavir against SARS-CoV-2 date: 2020-05-29 journal: Int J Infect Dis DOI: 10.1016/j.ijid.2020.05.085 sha: daa3e3d2ef08c1b27c0d543fd7a9915ca756f044 doc_id: 1013785 cord_uid: 8dlxnpcn Abstract Objectives Given the high need and the absence of specific antivirals for treatment of COVID-19 (the disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome-associated coronavirus-2 [SARS-CoV-2]), human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) protease inhibitors are being considered as therapeutic alternatives. Methods Prezcobix/Rezolsta is a fixed-dose combination of 800mg of the HIV protease inhibitor darunavir (DRV) and 150mg cobicistat, a CYP3A4 inhibitor, which is indicated in combination with other antiretroviral agents for the treatment of HIV infection. There are currently no definitive data on the safety and efficacy of DRV/cobicistat for treatment of COVID-19. The in vitro antiviral activity of darunavir against a clinical isolate from a patient infected with SARS-CoV-2 was assessed. Results DRV showed no activity against SARS-CoV-2 at clinically relevant concentrations (EC50 >100μM). Remdesivir, used as a positive control, showed potent antiviral activity (EC50 =0.38μM). Conclusions Overall, the data do not support the use of DRV for treatment of COVID-19. Overall, the data do not support use of darunavir for treatment of COVID-19 CoV-2]), human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) protease inhibitors are being considered as 23 therapeutic alternatives. The virus was subsequently identified as a coronavirus (CoV), in addition to SARS-CoV-1 and 300 301 302 303 304 305 306 307 308 309 310 311 312 313 314 Visual CPE read-out EC50 > 100 μM; MTT EC50 > 100 μM; CC50 >100 μM Covid-19 -The search for effective therapy Cobicistat-boosted darunavir in HIV-1-infected adults: week 48 results of a Phase IIIb, open-276 label single-arm trial Remdesivir and chloroquine effectively 278 inhibit the recently emerged novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) in vitro Analysis of therapeutic targets for