5 Future directions
As we proceed with the current molecular docking studies and presuming
the effectiveness of the existing antiviral compounds, the de novo drug
discovery will join to evaluate the modulation of the new molecular
targets of 2019-nCoV in bioassay platforms which were discussed above
and not only limited to 3cl pro and RdRpin. To accelerate the long,
costly and rigorous process of drug discovery, high throughput methods
and high content screening methods can be employed. However, by the
immediate global need for drugs to control the COVID-19 infection drug
search is currently pursued by the repurposing approach. Accordingly,
the critical viral life cycle steps like entry, genome and protein
synthesis reflect the multiple drug target groups that can be addressed
by the conventional de novo strategy of drug discovery. Assembly and
release inhibitors are less considered steps in 2019-nCov life cycle for
its drug discovery. While most of the drug cases for 2019-nCoV are
registered for the control purpose rather than prophylaxis; S protein,
integrins and ACE2 targets are of value for drug repurposing or
discovery programs to hinder the viral entry and fusion process.
Considering the fact that the primary goal of all viruses is to deliver
and replicate their genome to the competent host cells, blocking
angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2), cathepsin L, 3cL protease and
RdRp are suggested to be promising targets for anti-2019-nCoV drug
discovery.