The Epoch Times refers to the novel coronavirus, also called SARS-CoV-2, as the CCP virus because the Chinese Communist Party’s coverup and mishandling allowed the virus to spread throughout China and spark a global pandemic.

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In a preprint study not yet peer-reviewed, published on March 22 on bioRxiv, the research team indicated it found hundreds of “high confidence” interactions between SARS-CoV-2 virus proteins and druggable human proteins.

Nearly 70 substances, including both drugs in clinical trials and those already approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), as well as preclinical compounds, have the potential to impact the virus, the team found.

“Among these, we identify 66 druggable human proteins or host factors targeted by 69 existing FDA-approved drugs, drugs in clinical trials and/or preclinical compounds, that we are currently evaluating for efficacy in live SARS-CoV-2 infection assays,” the team wrote.

The fact that the human proteins, or host factors, are impacted by existing drugs and experimental compounds makes it more likely to identify “effective molecular targets” that potential antiviral therapeutics based on these drugs or compounds could hit.

“The identification of host dependency factors mediating virus infection may provide key insights into effective molecular targets for developing broadly acting antiviral therapeutics against SARS-CoV-2 and other deadly coronavirus strains,” the researchers concluded.

The list includes chloroquine, which kills a parasite that causes malaria. The drug can also interact with a human protein called the sigma-1 receptor, the same one the CCP virus attacks.

Chloroquine

President Donald Trump has referred to chloroquine optimistically in terms of potential effectiveness against the virus.

Chloroquine, or hydroxychloroquine, is approved by the FDA for treatment of malaria, lupus, and rheumatoid arthritis, but not for COVID-19, the disease caused by the CCP virus.

Last week, the FDA approved chloroquine and remdesivir to treat patients with COVID-19 under the “compassionate use” framework.

This lets doctors use experimental treatments or medications that have been approved for other ailments to treat COVID-19 patients. Under this model, medical practitioners are required to share all patient info regarding administration of and response to the drug, thereby helping inform ongoing trials and regulatory initiatives.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said the drug’s potential effectiveness against the virus was based anecdotal evidence and that clinical trials were needed to bear out the hypothesis.

Former FDA commissioner Dr. Scott Gottlieb, told CBS News that the study that looked at chloroquine involved around 20 patients, and only six cases saw benefit.

“And the benefit that they showed was that they decrease the amount of virus in their noses when you did nasal swabs in those patients,” Gottlieb said. “So it could very well be that the drug is reducing viral shedding, but having no impact on the clinical course of those patients. So the data on that is very preliminary.”. . .

(Excerpt from The Epoch Times. Article by Tom Ozimek.)