Academia Sinica yesterday said that it has identified protease inhibitors for SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, that could eventually lead to the development of targeted drugs to stop it from replicating.
Proteases — enzymes that break down proteins — are catalysts in a range of biological processes. They are often essential for the completion of a viral infection cycle.
Protease inhibitors, which can be naturally occurring or synthetic, block viral replication. They are common in treatments for HIV and hepatitis C.
Photo: EPA-EFE
A team led by Liang Po-huang (梁博煌), a research fellow at the Institute of Biological Chemistry, has identified potent inhibitors of the virus’ main protease from more than 100 candidates, Academia Sinica said in a press release.
In in vitro tests, the best of the inhibitors was about 10 times more effective than other candidates in preventing the virus from replicating, it said.
Animal and human trials are required before the inhibitors can be turned into drugs to treat COVID-19, but finding potential inhibitors in such a short time demonstrates Taiwan’s ability to respond to the pandemic, it said.
“We look forward to providing an option for targeted drugs in the near future,” Academia Sinica said.
In February, Academia Sinica President James Liao (廖俊智) launched the COVID-19 Open Science Platform to promote collaborative research against the disease.
To date, the effort has resulted in the synthesis of remdesivir, a drug being used in clinical trials, and the production of antibodies with potential applications in rapid COVID-19 testing, Academia Sinica said.
Centers for Disease Control Director-General Chou Jih-haw (周志浩) said at the Central Epidemic Command Center’s (CECC) daily news briefing that it welcomes any breakthroughs in COVID-19 research.
The CECC would gather information about the researchers’ progress, Chou said, adding that he hopes treatments to ease the pandemic would be launched soon.
Additional reporting by Lin Chia-nan
SUICIDE MOTIVE PROBED: The 50-year-old woman had a boyfriend in Taiwan and police entering her apartment found no signs of forced entry, but they did find charcoal Taipei police yesterday found a Spanish woman dead in her COVID-19 quarantine accommodations, although the cause of death is yet to be determined. The 50-year-old entered Taiwan on Oct. 2 and was due to leave quarantine today, police said. After officials failed to contact her yesterday morning, officers were dispatched to the apartment on Chengdu Road in Wanhua District (萬華) at 4pm, they said. Officers wearing full protective gear entered the apartment, where they found charcoal, but no signs of forced entry, they added. Police said they were investigating a possible motive for suicide, as there was no note at the scene. The woman had
FEW REMAIN: Conservationists tried to stop the demolition, but to no avail, and the owner cannot be fined, as the structure was not listed as a historical building One of the few remaining Japanese colonial-era granaries in Taiwan was dismantled by its owner on Friday, prompting outrage from conservationists. The granary, which was at No. 16, Lane 11, Hangzhou S Rd Sec 1 in Taipei, belonged to Taiwan Takushoku Corp during the colonial era, conservationist Chang Wan-lin (張琬琳) said, adding that she and others had been collecting information to reapply to have the building protected as a historical structure. During the colonial era, the granary served the area from Monga (艋舺) to what is now Songshan District (松山) in the north, she said. “Back then the eastern part
SEEING THE POSITIVE: A majority of respondents in Taiwan said that they favored Trump because they think Taiwan-US ties would improve with him Among eight Asia-Pacific countries and regions, only Taiwan prefers US President Donald Trump over his challenger, former US vice president Joe Biden, in the upcoming US presidential election, a survey released on Thursday showed. According to the poll published by UK-based market research firm YouGov, 42 percent of Taiwanese favor Trump in the Nov. 3 election, while 30 percent back Biden and 28 percent have no opinion. In contrast, respondents in Malaysia favor Biden over Trump 62 percent to 9 percent, and in Singapore by 66 percent to 12 percent, the survey showed. Biden also led Trump in Australia (60 percent to 21
TROUBLEMAKER: The missiles, capable of striking up to 2,000km away, would likely be used to deter other nations from coming to Taiwan’s aid, a legislator said The Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has reportedly deployed advanced hypersonic missiles along China’s southeast coast, which Taiwan’s missile defense system might have difficulty intercepting, an analyst said yesterday. Citing an unnamed military source, the South China Morning Post said that the missile bases on the coasts of China’s Fujian and Zhejiang provinces have been upgraded and are stocked with DF-17 missiles, equipped with hypersonic glide vehicles. “The DF-17 hypersonic missile will gradually replace the old DF-11s and DF-15s that were deployed in the southeast region for decades,” said the source, who requested anonymity because of the sensitivity of the topic. “The
RSS