Cambridge University scientists identify 160 new drugs with COVID-19 repurposing potential

Scientists at the University of Cambridge have identified 160 new drugs that have potential as repurposed treatments for COVID-19.

The study, published in Science Advances, used a combination of computational biology and machine learning to create a map of proteins involved in SARS-CoV-2 infections.

The researchers then examined this network using artificial intelligence (AI) to identify the key proteins involved in infection and biological pathways that could provide targets for drugs.

Following this, the research team used computer modelling to screen almost 2,000 approved drugs, finding 200 of these could be effective against COVID-19.

Out of those identified by the Cambridge team, 40 are already in clinical trials as potential treatments for COVID-19 – a fact which the researchers say supports their approach.

The team also used an artificial neural network analysis to classify drugs depending on the role of their targets in SARS-CoV-2 infection – stratifying them into those that target viral replication and those that target immune response.

Following this, they then took a subset of those involved in viral replication and evaluated them using cell lines from humans and non-human primates.

In particular, the scientists highlighted the potential of rheumatoid arthritis medication sulfasalazine and antimalarial drug proguanil, which they say have been shown to reduce SARS-CoV-2 viral replication in cells.

“By looking across the board at the thousands of proteins that play some role in SARS-CoV-2 infection – whether actively or as a consequence of infections – we’ve been able to create a network uncovering the relationship between these proteins,” said Tony Kouzarides, Director of the Milner Therapeutics Institute and study lead.

“We then used the latest machine learning and computer modelling techniques to identify 200 approved drugs that might help us treat COVID-19. Of these, 160 had not been linked to this infection before. This could give us many more weapons in our armoury to fight back against the virus,” he added.

A number of companies are evaluating already approved drugs for the potential application in COVID-19.

In April, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) launched a rolling review of one of these repurposed drugs – Eli Lilly’s rheumatoid arthritis/eczema treatment Olumiant (baricitinib) – as a treatment of COVID-19 in hospitalised patients who require supplemental oxygen.