Wichita State chemist identifies potential COVID-19 treatment

Dr. Bill Groutas, Wichita State University medical chemist, along with Kansas State University virologists Yunjeong Kim and Kyeong-Ok (KC) Chang published the study showing a possible therapeutic treatment for COVID-19 titled 3C-like protease inhibitors block SARS-CoV-2 replication in vitro and increase survival in MERS-CoV-infected mice which appears in the Aug. 3 issue of the prestigious medical journal Science Translational Medicine.

It reveals how small molecule protease inhibitors show potency against human coronaviruses. These coronavirus 3C-like proteases, known as 3CLpro, are strong therapeutic targets because they play vital roles in coronavirus replication.

The study demonstrates that this series of optimized coronavirus 3CLpro inhibitors blocked replication of the human coronaviruses MERS-CoV and SARS-CoV-2 in cultured cells and in a mouse model for MERS. These findings suggest that this series of compounds should be investigated further as a potential therapeutic for human coronavirus infection.

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