In silico studies of Potency and safety assessment of selected trial drugs for the treatment of COVID-19

SARS-CoV-2 has caused millions of infections and hundreds of thousands of deaths globally. Presently, no cure for SARS-CoV-2 infection is available; thus, all hands are on deck for new drug discovery. Although, several studies have reported the potentials of some already approved drugs for the treatment of COVID-19. This study attempted to compare the potency and safety of some these trial drugs via in silico methods. The binding affinity and interactions of the trial drugs with proteins involved in viral polyprotein processing (Papain like protease (PLpro) and Chymotrypsin like-protease (3-CLpro), viral replication (RNA dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp)) and host protease were studied in this work. The pharmacokinetic properties and toxicity potentials of the trial drugs were also predicted using vNN Web Server for ADMET Predictions. From the results, Merimepodib and Dexamethaxone demonstrated the most significant inhibitory potential against the PLpro. The binding affinity (∆G°) for merimepodib was − 7.2 kcal/mol while the inhibition constant was 6.3 µM. The binding affinity of the inhibitors for CLpro ranged from − 5.6 to − 9.5 kcal/mol. whereas Lopinavir (− 7.7 kcal/mol) exhibited the strongest affinity for RdRp. Overall, our results showed that all the ligands have a higher affinity for the 3-Chymotrypsin like protease than the other proteins (PLpro, RdRp, and Host protease). Among these compounds lopinavir, merimepodib and dexamethasone could be inhibitors with potentials for the treatment of SARS-CoV-2. However, the only dexamethasone has attractive pharmacokinetic and toxicity properties probable for drug development; therefore, our study provides a basis for developing effective drugs targeting a specific protein in the SARS-CoV-2 life cycle.