| First Author | Pruijssers AJ | Year | 2020 |
| Journal | Cell Rep | Volume | 32 |
| Issue | 3 | Pages | 107940 |
| PubMed ID | 32668216 | Mgi Jnum | J:298752 |
| Mgi Id | MGI:6460264 | Doi | 10.1016/j.celrep.2020.107940 |
| Citation | Pruijssers AJ, et al. (2020) Remdesivir Inhibits SARS-CoV-2 in Human Lung Cells and Chimeric SARS-CoV Expressing the SARS-CoV-2 RNA Polymerase in Mice. Cell Rep 32(3):107940 |
| abstractText | Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is the causative agent of the novel viral disease COVID-19. With no approved therapies, this pandemic illustrates the urgent need for broad-spectrum antiviral countermeasures against SARS-CoV-2 and future emerging CoVs. We report that remdesivir (RDV) potently inhibits SARS-CoV-2 replication in human lung cells and primary human airway epithelial cultures (EC50 = 0.01 muM). Weaker activity is observed in Vero E6 cells (EC50 = 1.65 muM) because of their low capacity to metabolize RDV. To rapidly evaluate in vivo efficacy, we engineered a chimeric SARS-CoV encoding the viral target of RDV, the RNA-dependent RNA polymerase of SARS-CoV-2. In mice infected with the chimeric virus, therapeutic RDV administration diminishes lung viral load and improves pulmonary function compared with vehicle-treated animals. These data demonstrate that RDV is potently active against SARS-CoV-2 in vitro and in vivo, supporting its further clinical testing for treatment of COVID-19. |
