Preventative approaches and treatment options for COVID-19

Researchers across the world are racing to develop preventative approaches and treatment options for COVID-19, including monoclonal antibodies, vaccines and antivirals, as well as investigating the repurposing of existing drugs to treat the infection.

There is no fully approved therapy or vaccine for COVID-19

There are no fully approved treatment options for COVID-19 available yet. Although we have seen a number of Emergency Use Authorisation’s (EUA’s) for certain COVID-19 treatments, like the FDA’s authorisation for Gilead’s remdesivir for example, which was originally used to treat MERS and SARS, which are also coronaviruses (CoV) and are structurally similar to COVID-19.

Neither an effective vaccine nor anti-viral therapeutic agents have been approved to treat COVID-19 or any other human CoV infection till date.

So which R&D programmes have the best chance of success?

Vaccines have the potential to provide long-term protection against the virus, but it could take years before a vaccine against COVID-19 is approved.

Probably the best shot at a reasonably short-term targeted therapy against the COVID-19 epidemic: the possibility of using monoclonal antibodies.

The possibility of using monoclonal antibodies

Monoclonal antibodies can be developed much faster than vaccines, and a lot quicker than a new targeted small-molecule antiviral. Antibodies that specifically block SARS-CoV-2 from attaching to human cells may have great potential.

ETS Nederland can advise on the different R&D programmes for each of these treatment options to ensure rapid development and approval.