Azelastine, an antihistamine Nasal Spray identified as a preventive or post-exposure anti-COVID-19 approach

CEBINA GmbH, an Austrian biotech company, announces positive results of its COVID-19 drug repurposing project with the identification of commonly used approved drugs with activity against SARS-CoV-2 infection in in vitro assays. One of these drugs, Azelastine an antihistamine currently available as a nasal spray, has been identified as a potential topical preventive or post-exposure anti-COVID-19 approach. CEBINA, in collaboration with Professor Robert Konrat, a renowned structural biologist (University of Vienna, Austria) has applied a computational approach, integrating several software tools and novel biological pathway analysis, to identify potential anti-COVID-19 drugs. This approach was complemented with in vitro viral infection testing with SARS-CoV-2 performed in a collaboration with Professor Ferenc Jakab, Head of the BSL-4 Laboratory in the Szentágothai Research Center, University of Pécs, Hungary. The results show that five generic drugs demonstrate anti-SARS-CoV-2 activity. The most potent among the identified drugs, Azelastine is available as a topically applied product and has only modest side-effects. The other identified drugs are commonly used in anti-hypertensive therapy: Telmisartan, Metoprolol, Losartan and Amiloride.