Massive fragment screen points way to new SARS-CoV-2 inhibitors

New research published in Science Advances provides a template for how to develop directly acting antivirals with novel modes of action that would combat COVID-19 by suppressing the SARS-CoV-2 viral infection. The study focused on the macrodomain part of the Nsp3 gene product that SARS-CoV-2 uses to suppress the host cell's natural antiviral response. This part of the virus's machinery, also known as Mac1, is essential for its reproduction: Previous studies have shown that viruses that lack it cannot replicate in human cells, suggesting that blocking it with a drug would have the same effect.