Efficacies of repurposing chloroquine analogues for the treatment of
COVID-19: Facts and myths
Abstract
The emergence of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is caused by the
2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV). The 2019-nCoV first broke out in
Wuhan and subsequently spread worldwide owing to its extreme
transmission efficiency. The fact that the COVID-19 cases and
mortalities are reported in globally and the WHO has declared this
outbreak as the pandemic. The international health authorities have
focused on rapid diagnosis and isolation of patients as well as the
search for therapies able to counter the disease severity. Due to the
lack of a known efficient therapy and public health emergency,
repurposing drugs chloroquine (CQ) analogues appear to be the best tool
against 2019-nCoV infection. These analogues have shown potential
efficacy to inhibit 2019-nCoV in vitro that leads to focus in several
new trials. This review discusses the possible effective roles and
mechanisms of CQ analogues for interfering with the 2019-nCoV
replication cycle and infection.