National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University researchers have identified four antiviral drug candidates that can inhibit SARS-CoV-2, which causes COVID-19, the team leader said on Tuesday.
One of the drug candidates — JMY206 — is more than 10 times stronger than remdesivir, the first antiviral drug fully certified for the treatment of COVID-19, said Yang Jinn-moon (楊進木), dean of the university’s College of Biological Science and Technology.
The other drugs identified are boceprevir, an oral, direct-acting hepatitis C virus protease inhibitor; telaprevir, a hepatitis C drug; and nelfinavir, an antiretroviral drug used to treat HIV-positive patients, Yang said.
Photo: Wu Po-hsuan, Taipei Times
The team’s starting point was its understanding that SARS-CoV-2 is highly similar to the virus that causes SARS, Yang said.
It then gathered SARS-related data and screened US Food and Drug Administration-approved drugs and natural products for possible COVID-19 treatment, he said.
By using artificial intelligence and big data, the team created simulations of changes in cell mechanisms after SARS-CoV-2 entered human host cells, and compared them with 250 globally published images of the 3D architecture of the main protease of the virus.
That resulted in the identification of six possible structures of key proteases — the enzymes that break down proteins and could lead to disease — that are essential for promoting SARS-CoV-2 entry, Yang said.
The team then identified the drugs that could inhibit the proteases and eventually SARS-CoV-2.
The most potent of the drugs, JMY206, can inhibit SARS-CoV-2 from entering cells, the team said.
The therapeutic benefits of JMY206 have also been proven in animal experiments and it can be a potential oral drug against COVID-19, Yang said.
The team has applied for a patent, and is planning to publish a paper on its findings and develop medicines by combining other medicinal components, Yang added.
Three batches of banana sauce imported from the Philippines were intercepted at the border after they were found to contain the banned industrial dye Orange G, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said yesterday. From today through Sept. 2 next year, all seasoning sauces from the Philippines are to be subject to the FDA’s strictest border inspection, meaning 100 percent testing for illegal dyes before entry is allowed, it said in a statement. Orange G is an industrial coloring agent that is not permitted for food use in Taiwan or internationally, said Cheng Wei-chih (鄭維智), head of the FDA’s Northern Center for
LOOKING NORTH: The base would enhance the military’s awareness of activities in the Bashi Channel, which China Coast Guard ships have been frequenting, an expert said The Philippine Navy on Thursday last week inaugurated a forward operating base in the country’s northern most province of Batanes, which at 185km from Taiwan would be strategically important in a military conflict in the Taiwan Strait. The Philippine Daily Inquirer quoted Northern Luzon Command Commander Lieutenant General Fernyl Buca as saying that the base in Mahatao would bolster the country’s northern defenses and response capabilities. The base is also a response to the “irregular presence this month of armed” of China Coast Guard vessels frequenting the Bashi Channel in the Luzon Strait just south of Taiwan, the paper reported, citing a
A total lunar eclipse, an astronomical event often referred to as a “blood moon,” would be visible to sky watchers in Taiwan starting just before midnight on Sunday night, the Taipei Astronomical Museum said. The phenomenon is also called “blood moon” due to the reddish-orange hue it takes on as the Earth passes directly between the sun and the moon, completely blocking direct sunlight from reaching the lunar surface. The only light is refracted by the Earth’s atmosphere, and its red wavelengths are bent toward the moon, illuminating it in a dramatic crimson light. Describing the event as the most important astronomical phenomenon
UNDER PRESSURE: The report cited numerous events that have happened this year to show increased coercion from China, such as military drills and legal threats The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) aims to reinforce its “one China” principle and the idea that Taiwan belongs to the People’s Republic of China by hosting celebratory events this year for the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, the “retrocession” of Taiwan and the establishment of the UN, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said in its latest report to the Legislative Yuan. Taking advantage of the significant anniversaries, Chinese officials are attempting to assert China’s sovereignty over Taiwan through interviews with international news media and cross-strait exchange events, the report said. Beijing intends to reinforce its “one China” principle
RSS