Oral COVID-19 drug outbreak! How much is known about RdRp inhibitors

Following the approval of Azfedine as the first domestic COVID-19 small molecule drug in late July, last month, Cerley Pharmaceuticals announced that the company's clinical trial application for the new coronavirus oral drug ASC10 was approved by

COVID-19 is caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus, a single-strand positive strand RNA virus with an envelope that belongs to the B coronavirus

At present, oral COVID-19 drugs have two design ideas: targeting viral proteins and targeting host proteins: the pathways to target viral proteins include RdRp (RNA-dependent RNA polymerase) and 3CLpro (3CL protease).

RdRp drug development

According to incomplete statistics, there are currently more than 20 RdRp inhibitors in the research treatment of COVID-19 in the world, of which Merck's Monairavir is representative, and there are 5 new crown RdRp inhibitors that have been listed, and 2 are in the phase III clinical stage

Market size forecast for oral COVID-19 drugs

As of July this year, for three small molecule drugs (Paxlovid/monetiravir/remdesivir) in the early stages of viral infection, the total sales of Q1 were $6.

(Source: Guolian Securities)

Introduction of domestic key drugs

1.

2、VV116

VV116 was jointly developed

3、SHEN26

SHEN26 is a broad-spectrum, potent RdRp inhibitor jointly developed by Kexing and Shenzhen Antaiwei, which can achieve antiviral effect by inhibiting viral nucleic acid synthesis, and has high in vitro inhibitory activity

4、ASC10

ASC10 is a COVID-19 oral small molecule drug candidate developed by Clarion for the novel coronavirus RdRp

5、LGN-20

LGN-20 was first developed by Ligand as an RdRp inhibitor, and in May 2022, CR Shuanghe and Ligand reached a strategic partnership to acquire exclusive development, production and commercialization rights from Ligand in the Asian region (excluding Israel, Russia, Turkey) for up to US$20.