Repurposing of selected antivirals and anthelmintics for treatment of COVID-19 (in silico study)

Abstract

The 2019 Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) is a highly contagious viral illness that have infected a lot of people causing high rates of morbidity worldwide turning mostly to a pandemic. The disease is caused by SARS-CoV-2 virus resulting in severe respiratory and hyper-inflammatory responses. Finding an immediate effective cure for the recently discovered disease has drawn the interest of researchers to repurpose existing drug candidates including different pharmacological classes such as; antiviral and anti-inflammatory medicines. Numerous therapy modalities have been investigated for COVID-19 treatment. Niclosamide and Nitazoxanide, the FDA-approved anthelminthic medications, have shown to be effective against several viral infections. This finding suggests the drugs’ potential as antiviral agents. Also, many antiviral drugs with different mechanisms have shown great efficacy in treating COVID-19 such as: Molnupiravir and Remdesivir. In this brief study, we assure Niclosamide's and Nitazoxanide’s potential clinical application in the management of COVID-19 in addition to drawing a comparison between both anthelmintics and antiviral agents and their ability to treat the virus. By reducing the time and expenses involved, computer-aided drug design (CADD) has contributed to the acceleration of the drug discovery and development process. This research study aims to improve the drugs’ downsides in silico, by using molecular modeling simulation, to enhance their efficacy for future synthesis and release into the market with their latest optimized potentialities.

Received on, 03 May 2025

Accepted on, 04 October 2025

Published on, 20 Novamber 2025