A Comprehensive Review on the Efficacy of Several Pharmacologic Agents for the Treatment of COVID-19

Simple Summary Treatments for coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) have utilized a variety of medications, including antivirals, immunomodulators, and other therapeutics such as antibiotics, stem cells, and plasma therapy. Each COVID-19 treatment option has advantages and disadvantages. The therapeutic effects of each medication used to treat COVID-19 patients are discussed in this review. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted emergency use authorization to some of the proposed treatment medicines for COVID-19 patients. Lopinavir/ ritonavir, favipiravir, ivermectin, nirmatrelvir, interferons, corticosteroids, tocilizumab, sarilumab, siltuximab, canakinumab, colchicine, tofacitinib, thalidomide, convalescent plasma therapy, and mesenchymal stem cells have been shown to have positive effects to treat COVID-19 patients, while anakinra, ruxolitinib, and azithromycin have proven ineffective for COVID-19 therapy; however, no solid conclusion has been obtained from the results of different clinical trials. Therefore, further randomized trials are required to support the validation of their utility. However, most studies concluded that utilizing chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine to treat COVID-19 patients had no effect and advised against doing so. This study helps choose appropriate COVID-19 medications in different nations and advances our knowledge of these drugs' clinical efficacy. SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19), and the cause of the pandemic is extremely contagious among people and has spread around the world. Antivirals, immunomodulators, and other medications, such as antibiotics, stem cells, and plasma therapy, have all been utilized in the treatment of COVID-19. To better understand the clinical efficacy of these agents and to aid in the selection of effective COVID-19 therapies in various countries, this study reviewed the effectiveness of the various pharmacologic agents that have been used for COVID-19 therapy globally by summarizing the clinical outcomes that have been obtained from the clinical trials published on each drug related to COVID-19 infection. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has authorized the use of remdesivir, paxlovid, molnupiravir, baricitinib, tixagevimab-cilgavimab, and bebtelovimab for the management of COVID-19. On the other hand, most research advises against using chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine to treat COVID-19 patients because they are not beneficial. Although the FDA has given emergency use authorization for some monoclonal antibodies, including bamlanivimab, etesevimab, casirivimab, and imdevimab for managing COVID-19, they are not currently approved for use because the Omicron variant has significantly reduced their in vitro susceptibility. In this study, we also included a wide range of alternative therapy strategies that effectively treat COVID-19 patients, although further randomized studies are necessary to support and assess their applicability.