An international team of scientists has revealed that the drug plitidepsin (aplidine) is almost 30 times more effective against SARS-CoV-2 than remdesivir. This is reported in an article published in the journal Science.
It is known that plytidepsin is an inhibitor of the eEF1A molecule, an elongation factor 1-alpha 1, which plays a key role in protein synthesis. This drug is used in the fight against multiple myeloma and has been tested in Phase 2 clinical trials against COVID-19.
The researchers examined the drug’s ability to suppress coronavirus replication in the Vero E6 cell line, derived from the kidneys of the African green monkey. Plytidepsin was nine times stronger than ternatin-4 and 87.5 times stronger than zotatafine. Both ternatin-4 and zotatifine are also protein synthesis inhibitors and have anti-coronavirus effects. In human cells, plytidepsin was 27.5 times more effective than remdesivir.
The researchers suggested that plytidepsin among all other drugs has the strongest antiviral activity in human lung cells. In addition, it is most likely not toxic, although it negatively affects cell growth and division, providing a cytostatic effect.