Chloroquine
Chloroquine, a commonly used anti-malarial and autoimmune disease
medication, has recently been identified as a potential wide-spectrum
antiviral drug [23-24]. Chloroquine is known to block infection with
the virus by growing the endosomal pH needed for virus / cell fusion, as
well as interfering with the glycosylation of SARS-CoV cell receptors
[25]. In addition to its antiviral activity, chloroquine has an
immune-modulating activity which can synergistically increase its in
vivo antiviral impact. Following the discovery in China of in vitro
chloroquine activity against SARS-CoV-2, 50% and 90% effective
concentrations of Vero E6 cells (EC50=1,13 μM and EC90=6,90 μM) were
discovered during culture tests[12]. Chloroquine, an authorized
immune modulator, shows inhibitory activity against 2019-nCoV (EC50 =
1.13μM in Vero E6 cells) [26] and is tested in an open-label trial
(ChiCTR2000029609) [27].