Asthma drug blocks coronavirus from replicating, finds study

A study by researchers from the Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru has revealed that a drug used in the treatment of Asthma can reduce SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19, from replicating in human immune cells. Researchers at the IISc found that the drug binds strongly to one end of a SARS-CoV-2 protein called Nsp1, which is one of the first viral proteins unleashed inside human cells. The study published in the journal eLife states that "montelukast sodium hydrate can be used as a lead molecule to design potent inhibitors to help combat SARS-CoV-2 infection." Tanweer Hussain, Assistant Professor in the Department of Molecular Reproduction, Development and Genetics, IISc, and senior author of the study explains that the mutation rate in this protein, especially the C-terminal region, is very low compared to the rest of the viral protein and since Nsp1 is likely to remain largely unchanged in any variants of the virus that emerge, drugs targeting this region are expected to work against all such variants. Montelukast, on the other hand, was found to bind strongly and stably to Nsp1, allowing the host cells to resume normal protein synthesis," Tanweer Hussain, Assistant Professor in the Department of Molecular Reproduction said in a statement.