1 Introduction
An outbreak of SARS-CoV-2 occurred in Wuhan, China in December 2019 and
within a matter of a few months it progressed into a full-blown
pandemic. It is responsible for a total global death toll of 505,567 and
10,304,148 confirmed cases in over 213 countries as of 29th June 2020
(worldometer). SARS-CoV-2 belongs to the family of large enveloped
positive stranded RNA Corona Viruses and is the 7th virus of this group
to infect humans 1. It is a zoonotic virus and is
transmitted through the inhalation of airborne droplets. It can trigger
a respiratory tract infection which is mild in most cases but can result
in severe infections in 19% of patients according to the WHO. As such
critical care has consisted of ventilation with a range of repurposed
drugs and other therapies that are very much still under investigation.
No specific guidelines for treatment have been set. The purpose of this
review is to provide a concise overview of the therapeutics (Table 1)
that have been used and / or are in developmental pipeline to treat
COVID-19.