Development of COVID-19/SARS-CoV-2 Therapeutic Options

Dear Colleagues,

The global COVID-19 pandemic has had an immense impact on public health, social life, and economies. Less than one year following the discovery of SARS-CoV-2, many vaccines have been approved and now administered to millions of people around the world; however, unfortunately, SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern (VOCs) have been selected by the continuous transmission between individuals and vaccine pressure. The delay in the administration of these vaccines in developing countries, together with the lack of adhesion of many people to the vaccination campaign, has led to a significant wave of SARS-CoV-2 infections, of which the Omicron variants are still the protagonists.

Even today, there are few effective antiviral therapies that can be used against this coronavirus. Many researchers have focused their studies on new or existing antiviral drugs, with the aim of finding effective therapeutic therapies against COVID-19. In addition, various endogenous and natural compounds have been tested and are still under investigation for their role in the pathogenesis of COVID-19.

This Special Issue on the development of COVID-19/SARS-CoV-2 therapeutic options will cover basic aspects of the study of new drugs/compounds or molecules with direct antiviral effects, or those that are implicated in the patient's response to SARS-CoV-2. The discovery of crucial factors in the pathophysiology of COVID-19 could reveal new plausible therapeutic targets against which drugs can be developed and tested. Furthermore, in light of new evidence on patients who can develop severe forms of COVID-19, this Special Issue will include the clinical aspects of the currently available drug therapies and their impact on patient management.

Dr. Samuele Sabbatini
Dr. Anna Gidari
Guest Editors

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• SARS-CoV-2
• COVID-19
• antivirals
• therapeutic development
• pathogenesis
• COVID-19 pathophysiology