Efficiency of antiviral drugs

Type of antiviral drugsAntiviral drugsDosageDuration (day)OutcomesReferences
Polymerase inhibitorsRemdesivir200 mg intravenously on day 1, plus 100 mg daily for the following 9 days10Significantly reduced the need for oxygen support
Adverse effects: increased hepatic enzymes, diarrhea, rash, renal impairment, and hypotension; multiple organ-dysfunction syndrome, septic shock, and acute kidney injury
[29]
200 mg on day 1, followed by 100 mg daily5 or 10Improved clinical symptoms, over half cases were recovery clinically and over half cases were discharged
Adverse effects: nausea and acute respiratory failure
[30]
200 mg on day 1 followed by 100 mg on days 2–10 in single daily infusions10No benefit in reducing the duration time of clinical symptoms and viral load, decreasing mortality, and decreasing the incidence of adverse events
Adverse effects: gastrointestinal symptoms (anorexia, nausea, and vomiting), aminotransferase or bilirubin increases, and worsened cardiopulmonary status
[31]
Molnupiravir800 mg twice daily5The risk of hospitalization or death in the placebo group was 9.7% (68/699), and the risk of hospitalization or death in the molnupiravir group was reduced to 6.8 % (48/709)NCT04405739
200 mg, 400 mg, or 800 mg, twice daily57.3% of patients (28/385) on molnupiravir as compared to 14.1% of patients on placebo (53/377) had either been admitted to the hospital or died, and no death was reported in the molnupiravir group as compared to 8 deaths in the placebo group on day 29
Adverse effects: headache, insomnia, and increased levels of alanine aminotransferase (ALT) were the only adverse events reported by more than 4 participants, and 5% and 8.1% of molnupiravir and placebo groups, respectively showed grade 3 level of adverse events
NCT04575597
Ribavirin500 mg/time for adults, 2 to 3 intravenous infusions per day< 10Contraindications and precautions: patients with cardiac diseases are forbidden treating with this drug; pay attention to the adverse effects and drug-drug interactions during treating with this drug[54]
400 mg every 12 h14Accelerated the negative conversion time for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) significantly[55]
600 mg, twice daily14No benefit for reducing the number of ICU admissions and the number of deaths, increased the cumulative incidence od recovery significantly[56]
500 mg every 12 h-No benefit for reducing the negative conversion time for SARS-CoV-2 and the mortality of the patients with severe COVID-19[57]
600 mg every 12 h9One-third mortality of severe COVID-19
Adverse effects: anemia, gastrointestinal disorders, liver enzymes increased, and sepsis
[58]
Sofosbuvir/daclatasvir400/60 mg daily14Clinical recovery within 14 days was achieved by 29/33 (88%) in the treatment arm and 22/33 (67%) in the control arm (P = 0.076). The treatment arm had a significantly shorter median duration of hospitalization (6 days [Interquartile Range (IQR) 4–8]) than the control group [8 days (IQR 5–13)]; P = 0.029. The cumulative incidence of hospital discharge was significantly higher in the treatment arm versus the control (Gray’s P = 0.041). Three patients died in the treatment arm and five in the control arm. No serious adverse events were reported[56]
400/60 mg daily with ribavirin 60 mg twice daily14The median duration of hospital stay for all patients was 5 days for the treatment arm and 9 days for the control arm. The need to admit patients to the ICU was lower in the treatment arm (17%) than the control arm (48%). The relative risk of ICU admission for the treatment arm versus the control arm was 0.36 [95% confidence interval (CI) 0.16–0.81, P = 0.014]. The median duration for ICU stay was 3.5 days for the treatment arm and 5 days for the control arm[58]
Protease inhibitorsPF-07321332300 mg with ritonavir 100 mg every 12 h5The interim analysis showed an 89% reduction in risk of COVID-19-related hospitalization or death from any cause compared to placebo in patients treated within three days of symptom onset[66]
Lopinavir/ritonavir (LPV/r)400/100 mg10Improved clinical symptoms, decreased the need for oxygen support, improved pneumonia[73]
400/100 mg, twice daily, or 800/200 mg daily10Shorter the duration time of fever and virus nucleic acid turned negative, decreased the denormalized rate of white blood cells, lymphocytes, C-reactive protein (CRP), and platelets[74]
400/100 mg, twice daily5–10Accelerated time of virus nucleic acid turned negative significantly, improved cheat computed tomography (CT) manifestations significantly, reduced the exacerbation rate, decreased the incidence of adverse events significantly
Adverse effects: elevated transaminase, elevated bilirubin, nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, diarrhea, rash, etc.
[75]
400/100 mg, twice daily10Reduced viral loads, improved clinical symptoms[76]
DarunavirDarunavir/cobicistat: 800/150 mg daily-Reduced mortality significantly, increased the rate of cases discharged from ICU significantly, reduced the incidence of acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) significantly[78]
10SARS-CoV-2 nucleic acid test showed still maintained positive, chest X-ray showed pneumonia still existed, no benefit for improving the clinical symptoms of COVID-19[79]
Darunavir/ritonavir: 800/100 mg daily5–10Adverse effects: liver enzyme elevations and mild diarrhea[80]
Type I interferons (IFNs)Type I IFNs3 million IU/time, qodUntil two consecutive viral detections turned negativeThe combination treatment shortened the average duration time of hospitalization significantly, accelerated the time of viral shedding of the upper respiratory tract[86]

-: no accurate datum