A study led by Sara Cherry, PhD, a professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine and scientific director of the High-Throughput Screening Core at Penn, has identified nine drugs that inhibit infection of the novel coronavirus in human lung epithelial cells.

The team found that Cyclosporin — an FDA-approved generic drug that is readily available — both suppresses overactive immune response and inhibits infection from COVID-19. Drugs that act as both antiviral and immunosuppressant show great promise for treatment of late stage COVID-19 patients with cytokine storm. They also found a Cyclosporin derivative, alisporivir, that can block infection without suppressing the immune system, which could potentially be used in acutely infected patients. Read the preprint in bioRxiv