Niclosamide as a potent anti-SARS-CoV-2 agent
Given niclosamide’s potent antiviral activity within the
beta-coronavirus family, it became apparent that it could be a potent
antiviral against SARS-CoV-2. A study by Jeon et al., (2020) testing
3000 FDA approved drugs and other well characterized molecules
identified niclosamide as the most potent inhibitor of SARS-CoV-2 in
Vero cells, with a 40-fold higher potency than remdesivir. Furthermore,
Weiss et al., (2021) showed that niclosamide’s potency is conserved
against the alpha and beta SARS-CoV-2 variant in Vero TMPRSS2 cells and
validated niclosamide’s strong antiviral activity in a human airway
epithelial model. Niclosamide has also been shown to inhibit SARS-CoV-2in vivo . Specifically, an inhaled niclosamide formulation was
developed and tested in a murine infection model (Brunaugh et al.,
2021). Intranasal administration of niclosamide to coronavirus infected
mice improved survival and significantly reduced viral loads. Intranasal
niclosamide administration exhibited potent properties as an anti-MRSA
bacteriostatic agent and modulated various inflammatory cytokines such
as IL-1β, IL-6 and TNF-α. These findings suggest that niclosamide could
also address secondary bacterial infections, which is one of the leading
causes of death in COVID-19 patients.