In vitro Antiviral Activity of Remdesivir Against SARS-CoV-2 and its Variants

Abstract

The outbreak of COVID-19 has become a public health emergency of international concern;thus, it is important to not only develop drugs for treating COVID-19 but also develop a method for evaluating the therapeutic effect based on the characteristics of SARS-CoV-2 and its variants. To test the antiviral activity of a drug against COVID-19, in this study, we established and compared experimental conditions, such as the treatment time and mode of action (dose) of the therapeutic substance, and a test method to evaluate its effectiveness. We optimized an assay for testing antiviral activity by plaque reduction, tissue culture infectious dose 50, and quantitative RT-PCR. These methods were applied to test the antiviral efficacy of the therapeutic against SARS-CoV-2. Antiviral activity testing using in vitro assays against SARS-CoV-2 and its variants was assessed by measuring plaque-reducing or cytopathic effects in Vero-E6 cells. The in vitro assay was validated by evaluating the antiviral activity of remdesivir. Remdesivir reduced SARS-CoV-2 titer without detectable cytotoxicity and successfully inhibited viral replication in a dose-dependent manner. Therefore, we suggest this in vitro assay as an effective method for testing the antiviral activity for a potential repurposed drug against COVID-19 or rapid screening of therapeutic candidates. Copyright © 2022 Journal of Bacteriology and Virology.