COVID Moon shot Makes Major Breakthrough In Antiviral Drug Discovery

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Jerusalem: Israel Weizmann Institute of Science (WIS) revealed that the COVID Moonshot has discovered a compound promising for blocking the protein that is essential for the replication of the COVID-19 virus.

A new report published in the journal ‘Science’ on Friday offers detailed information about the specific compound that shows significant potential in inhibiting the replication of COVID-19, employing ways distinct from those of currently available drugs.

According to WIS, the open science campaign aims to allow pharmaceutical companies to transform compounds into generic drugs without patents, enabling them to be marketed at much-reduced prices compared to branded ones. Thereby, this will increase the affordability of anti-COVID-19 drugs for low-income countries and populations.

The WIS statement and science report noted that the discovery reflects the success of the open science research framework offered by COVID Moonshot, which promotes transparency, collaboration and accessibility by openly sharing research outputs, data, methodologies, and tools.

The COVID Moonshot is a non-profit, open-science consortium of scientists from around the world dedicated to the discovery of safe, globally affordable, straight-to-generic, and easily-manufactured antiviral drugs against COVID-19 and future viral pandemics. It was formed in March 2020 to find a cure for the coronavirus after its outbreak.